Return to normal?
by FutureAnimeArtist331
Summary: Chloe, Derek, Simon, Tori, Kit, Aunt Lauren and some others have finally defeated the Edison Group after two months, and now Chloe is going home, and back to school! She really misses the others, but doesn't expect this! There's more danger than ever!
1. Going Home

_**Darkest Powers: Edition 2 **_By 331

This is what happens after the Awakening by Kelley Armstrong (but not the Reckoning), after they had found Mr. Bae (Simon and Derek's dad), defeated the Edison Group and the Cabal, and gone back to their old lives.

I do not own anything and it all belongs to Kelley Armstrong. I am just using her characters and adding a few of my own.

Chloe's POV

Saying goodbye was hard. We had gone through so much together, two whole months, and now that we had won, we had to leave. I thought winning meant happiness. Guess not. Tori was going to stay with Simon, Derek, and Mr. Bae, because once he had told her she was his daughter, Mr. Bae wasn't giving her any other options (not that she had any). But Aunt Lauren was taking me back to my dad. Neither of us had any idea what we were going to tell him, but it had better be good, because otherwise, well, he wouldn't believe it and demand to know the truth. And that would be too dangerous for him. Aunt Lauren and Mr. Bae were putting our stuff in the cab. We were gonna ride in it all the way back. I really hoped it didn't smell. I hugged Simon hard, crying a bit. He smiled at me.

"It's not like we won't ever see you again. I promise we'll come visit." They were going to live in Maine. I don't think there was any particular reason, but I think Mr. Bae had found a decent job there (and there were probably some supernaturals up there he wanted to talk to). And I was staying in New York, and going back to art school. Boy would the first day back be fun. I hugged Tori, and for once she had the sense to not say something bitchy. Instead she said,

"I'll miss having a girl to talk to. Email me like every day. We can IM and stuff. So don't forget." Last was Derek. He stood there, unsure what to do. So I just rushed up and hugged him.

"I'll miss you, too, Derek." He sort of hugged me back, still a little unsure. I stepped back and he smiled.

"Don't to anything too stupid."

"And you don't anything too smart."

"How do you be too smart?"

"It's something you do all the time." Simon chuckled and nodded.

"He does, but don't worry, I'll keep him in line. And don't forget to email me too. I don't want to be forgotten. And I'll get Derek to say something every once in a while." He elbowed Derek in the stomach, who replied with a punch in the arm. I laughed, knowing this is the last time for a while that I'd see them just goof off.

"Chloe, we have to go if we want to get home in time for dinner!" Aunt Lauren called. I turned to go, but felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked back, and it was Simon.

"I hope we see each other again soon." I nodded.

"Me too." He helped me into the cab. I looked out the back window waving, as they waved to me, while the cab drove off. I kept waving even after I couldn't see them anymore, until we had turned a corner onto the highway. I was nervous about seeing my dad and what I would say, and I was already missing Tori and the guys. I really just wanted to go and live with them in Maine. But, I did want to see my dad again.

I talked with Aunt Lauren most of the way, until she said she was tired and wanted to sleep. After that I started reading, but couldn't focus, because I got nauseous easily in the car and reading didn't help. And neither did worrying about my dad. So I tried sleeping, but that didn't work either. So I ended up drawing on a pad of paper. Simon had taught me a couple things, and I was pretty good by now. I drew a couple flowers, and then started writing my name in funny letters over and over again. When we eventually turned onto my street, Aunt Lauren had woken back up, and we were rehearsing our stories. She was going to say that she had found me on the street in upper New York, just wandering, and that I had had amnesia. I had recovered a bit, but still didn't remember anything from after I left the Lyle house to a couple days before. It was all a blur. That way, I didn't have to tell him what happened to me, but I was home safe and may never remember. And I didn't have to tell him about my powers. But Aunt Lauren said to act a little addled, just in case, to prove I really had had amnesia. Even with the story, I was still nervous. Aunt Lauren told me to calm down, he might not even be home, but at work, with the maid there in case I came back. But I was still nervous. When we pulled up to the door, I couldn't move. Aunt Lauren had to pull me out of the cab, grab our bags, and push me up the steps. And I still hid behind her when she rang the doorbell. Annette answered. She saw Aunt Lauren and the bags, but she couldn't see me.

"Why Dr. Fellows, what are you doing here? Mr. Saunders is at work, and I'm only here now since Chloe's gone.....," she sounded kinda sorrowful at the end, like she though I was dead or something. Then Aunt Lauren's hand shot around and grabbed my arm and pulled me forward. Annette gasped.

"Chloe! Oh Chloe, it really is you! We've been so worried! Your father will be so relieved to know your safe!" She was hugging me really hard, practically squeezing my lungs disfunctional. Then she inspected me to make sure I was okay. After at least five inspections, she ran to the phone and called my father. She had me and Aunt Lauren sit on the couch and eat fruit while she called dad. I could hear his freakout from half way across the room. When she was finished, she came and sat down across from us, on an armchair.

"So, where have you been? Your father has been worrying his head off for the past two months! What happened?" Aunt Lauren told her our planned story, while I tried to keep my face from looking guilty. But Annette was gullible, and believed every word.

"Oh you poor thing! You can't remember anything at all?" I nodded, and she came over and hugged me again, this time more gentle. Then she made us some dinner, and she told me everything she had heard about my disappearance. Apparently, people had thought at first I had run away with some boy, but then later, I became the poor little half a million dollar kidnap victim. I had been all over the news, and apparently there was a video going around that someone had spotted me in Michigan (obviously fake, because we had never gone there). Aunt Lauren said she had found me up near Syracuse. Annette hoped I hadn't been drugged, but Aunt Lauren confirmed that she had had me checked over when she'd first found me, and I didn't have any drugs in my system.

Finally, my father arrived. He burst through the door.

"Chloe?!!? CHLOE!" he spotted me, and lunged at me, almost knocking me to the floor. I was almost squeezed to death again. I hugged him back, and tears came flooding up.

"Oh Chloe, I'm so glad you're safe! Don't ever scare me like that again. I don't know what would happen to me if I ever lost you." We cried and hugged a lot.

"I missed you too, Dad." he kept hugging me and kissing me constantly throughout the rest of the night. Even when Aunt Lauren was explaining what happened, I was sitting next to him with his arm around me. He didn't question the story either, just extremely relieved I was safe. He tucked me in (for the first time ever, he had never done that before, even when I was little). He kissed me goodnight and left, telling Aunt Lauren to stay and help Annette look after me for a couple days. I would be going back to school in a couple days. I had missed so much, I knew I would need summer school, but I didn't mind. I was home. There was only one thing that wasn't right, one thing that was missing. I missed Simon, Tori, and Derek.

…..........................................................................................................................................

It was my first day back to school. The weekend had been horrible. Once it had gotten out the half a million dollar girl was back, paparazzi mobbed our house. They didn't leave until they had interviewed me (or until Annette threatened to get a restraining order, anyway) and I had gotten no time to mentally prepare myself for going back to school. I was downright freakin' terrified. And to top it all off, my dad forced me to go with a bodyguard! And, everyone there had thought I'd gone crazy, then sent to a crazy kid home, and then ran away and lived on the street for two months! This was not going to be pleasant. I wanted to tell my dad I would rather be home schooled, but Aunt Lauren said if I couldn't face my fears about little things like school, what would happen if I was attacked by another group of evil sadistic supernaturals. I said that I could whoop their buts by unleashing an army of dead animals on them. But school was different. No one there knew about my powers or understood that I wasn't a schizophrenic crazy girl. And I couldn't make them understand either. Plus, I had no idea what my other friends had thought of all this. I hadn't contacted them at all, and as far as I knew, they hadn't tried to contact me. Would they try to accept me back, or avoid me?

I really did not want to go to school.

But Annette fussed me out of bed, and Aunt Lauren drove me to school, telling me the body guard would be there if something went wrong, and yes, he was a supernatural. When we pulled up to the front of the school, I hid under the seats. Aunt Lauren came in and dragged me out. Immediately I felt the stares of countless art school kids as they realized who I was, and I felt my insides shrivel up and die. Aunt Lauren introduced me to the body guard, and her name was Abby. She had long red hair, and was no older than Aunt Lauren. She told me she was a witch, and would just be following me around all day for the next week or so, to make sure I wouldn't be kidnapped or anything. She seemed nice, but the following around part canceled that out. Aunt Lauren handed me my back pack and smiled.

"It'll be okay, hon. We'll talk after school over a milkshake, and you can fill me in on your day. I'm sure there's a nice person just waiting to be your friend somewhere in there. And maybe we can call Tori, Simon, and Derek later, okay?" I brightened at the prospect of talking to them again. I'd only been away from them for four days, and it already felt like years. I hugged Aunt Lauren goodbye, and then Abby followed me up the steps into the school. I go through the doors, and........ dead silence. Everyone had stopped talking, and they were all staring straight at me. Abby patted my shoulder and smiled weakly, and I tried to smile back, but I just couldn't. Today was gonna be fun.

When I walked into the classroom (English class), I got more stares. Abby went straight to the back of the room and sat in a vacant chair, while I was forced to choose where to sit. I spotted Kari, one of my friends (at least, I hoped she was still my friend) and chose the desk behind hers in the corner. I felt people's eyes boring into me, and if this kept up, I was going to go crazy for real. Thankfully, the teacher walked in, and everyone was forced to look straight. I hoped to god the teacher wasn't going to do what I thought he might.

"Okay class, today, we are glad to welcome back a friend who has been missing for a couple months, but she is here safe and sound, and we should welcome her back warmly. Chloe, would you please stand up and say hi?" Dammit! Why God? Why? I stood up shakily, and tried to answer.

"H-h-hi, p-people," I quickly shut up and sat down. I heard some sniggers, and now I was sure most people though I was crazy. They probably pitied me, but mostly laughed at me, in my face or behind my back. The teacher smiled sympathetically at me, and then continued into the class without saying anything else about it. Thankfully, he also didn't call on me for the rest of the class. When the bell rang, I plucked up the courage to try to talk to Kari.

"Um, Kari?" she had been putting her books away, and she looked at me. And she just stared. And I froze. By then everyone except her and I (and Abby) had left. I couldn't think of one thing to say. So I looked down and rushed by her. I was almost out the door when I heard―

"Chloe?" I stopped, and turned. Kari was looking at me, she almost seemed... sorry.

"I'm glad you're back," and she smiled. I smiled too, and she ran over and hugged me. I knew I was crying. I had felt so alone, walking back into school, but now I knew I still had friends here. I hugged her back.

"Chloe, I was so worried! When they took you out on a stretcher and then sent you away, I didn't know what to think. And then you went missing, which scared me so much! I was dying inside, hearing people talk about you, saying you had gone crazy and had turned into a schizo, and that you had run away from you psych ward, and I was so so scared!And Beth was too (another of my art school friends)! She was out of school for three days when she heard you were missing! Of course, she told everybody she was sick, but the way she acted makes me think otherwise. Oh, I'm so glad you're back!" She hugged me tighter, and my tears splashed onto her crimson sweater. We hugged for a minute or two, then stepped back. I dried my eyes in my hand.

"So, you don't think I'm crazy?"

"I hope you're not. But you seem the same, so I'm deciding now that you're fine. But what happened out there? You were missing for like two months!"

"I don't know. My Aunt Lauren said she found me in Syracuse, and that I couldn't remember anything. I've regained most of my memory, except everything that occurred out there is still blur. I have no idea what happened to me at all." She smiled at me.

"Well, let's just hope whatever happened, you're safe now." I nodded. I really hoped that now too. I hated lying to her, but it needed to be done, to keep her safe. She walked with me to my next class, with Abby trailing behind. People still stared, but I didn't care any more. I had friends. We met up with Beth in Geometry, and she was happy to see me too. I saw Brent sitting across the room, and I swear I saw him glance at me once, but I couldn't be sure (Brent was the guy I had a forced crush on before I was sent to the Lyle house. Miranda had forced me to say who I'd liked, and I just blurted Brent's name because she wouldn't stop pestering me. But then she went up and told him I liked him, and after that he avoided me like I had contracted some kind of disease, which of course, now, is probably exactly what at least three quarters of the school was thinking right then)(Miranda was a recent addition to my group of friends before I was sent away, but she mostly was interested in boys, and talking only about them. I was still unsure what she thought about all this.). Beth had missed me too, and was happy I was back. We didn't see Miranda until lunch. She looked at us, at me sitting with Kari and Beth, and she snorted and walked off towards a group of boys. Whatever. She hadn't been that nice to me anyway. Kari and Beth filled me in on what I had missed. There wasn't much. I had missed one dance (they said Brent hadn't slow danced with anyone, which means he was still up for grabs, and I think I was supposed to get excited about that. Not really.), the student film festival (Dammit! I had wanted to be in that, directing my own short film. I had been the only freshman to qualify for the slot of director!), and a couple projects I probably would have to go to summer school to make up. I had also missed one of the school plays, which Kari was in, and I was sad I had missed it (it was called 30 Reasons Not to Be in a Play. It was entirely about all these different crazy reasons why a person should not be in a play. And then the last reason was them forgetting what the last reason was, and then pretending to mess up. It was apparently really funny. I wish I had been there. But I had been a little preoccupied, running for my life from psycho scientists and perverted, ugly werewolves who wanted to give Derek to the pack and sexually assault me. And then having to go back and fight them until we won. Still, I wish I had been able to go and support Kari.) They also told me there was another dance coming up this Friday, and they would totally go shopping with me to get dresses. Unfortunately, it also meant I needed a date. What boy at this school, after watching the news, would want to ask me to a dance? Great.

After school, Abby walked me to the milkshake place Aunt Lauren was meeting me at. When she was sure I was safe in my aunt's hands, she left, saying she'd see me again tomorrow. I told Aunt Lauren all about how today wasn't all that bad, I still had two friends. I got a vanilla milkshake, and Aunt Lauren got a coffee, and I told her about the dance. She was happy to know I still had friends, and would bring us shopping tomorrow. And then she got out her cellphone and called Mr. Bae. Waiting was agonizing. It rung and rung forever. They didn't pick up the first time, and aunt Lauren tried again. I got anxious when she tried the third time. After the fifth try, she stopped, saying maybe he shut his phone off. I was worried. But she told me we'd try again later. She took me home, and Annette made dinner for us. We had spaghetti, and it was pretty good. I did all my homework, and then begged Aunt Lauren to call Mr. Bae again. She tried, to no avail. By now I was really anxious. What if something had gone wrong, what if they were hurt, what if right now they were....... No, they weren't they were fine. There was nothing wrong, the phone just wasn't working. Or maybe the number wasn't right. But they were fine. I went to bed with worry clouding my thoughts, and I dreamed that Mr. Bae, Simon, Tori, and Derek, were speeding down the highway, being chased by zombie sorcerer demons riding werewolves, and then they were chased off a cliff and died. I did not sleep to well that night. I hoped they were okay. Because if they weren't, I..... I..... I didn't know what I'd do.

_**Hey guys! This is my new story, and yes, Simon, Tori, and Derek come back. But you'll have to wait and see how! Hope you like it! Review! **_


	2. The Dance

_**Darkest Powers: Edition 2 **_By 331

This is what happens after the Awakening by Kelley Armstrong (but not the Reckoning), after they had found Mr. Bae (Simon and Derek's dad), defeated the Edison Group and the Cabal, and gone back to their old lives.

I do not own anything and it all belongs to Kelley Armstrong. I am just using her characters and adding a few of my own.

Chloe's POV

When I woke up the next morning, I was groggy. I lifted my head off my pillow and sat up. The room looked dark and greyish, and I couldn't really see beyond a couple feet. I pressed my hand to the side of my head to get rid of my early morning head ache, when I felt something wet. I froze. I slowly pulled my hand down, and screamed. My arm was bloodied and decaying, ghostly white with splotches of blackish green rot and blood. I heard laughter, and looked up. Standing in front of me was......

"DEREK!" I tried to get up but couldn't. I looked down at my body, and all they way up to my shoulders my body was bloodied and decaying. My feet didn't even have skin anymore, it was just bloodied muscles and bone. I screamed again.

"DEREK! HELP ME!" I cried, but he continued laughing. His eyes were a weird glowy red purple, and the pupils were black slits. A woman I had never seen before came up behind him, creepily smiling. She put her hand on Derek's shoulder.

"Kill her." Derek smiled like he had gone mad, and lunged at me.

"CHLOE, NO!" My dad jumped in front of me, and Derek slashed him with his newly grown claws. I screamed.

"DAD!" his body fell to the floor, and what he landed on made me stop breathing. Tori, Simon, Aunt Lauren, Kit, Kari, Beth, and another person I couldn't quite remember but I knew, were all dead on the floor. The woman gestured to the one I couldn't remember, and his body started picking itself off the floor. I gasped. It was Nate. He had been one of my friends in art school too, and he had sort of asked me to the dance before I had been sent to the Lyle house. But now, he was covered in blood, and his chest sliced open like butter. The woman pointed at Derek. He froze, and Nate's arms became sharp like knives, and he slashed Derek across the chest, killing him. I screamed. Not Derek. Not him. Nate turned to face me, his eyes blood red. I wanted to re-kill him. His eyes looked scared as I looked at him, and he started coughing, then looked like he was choking. He needed to die. Now. I kept focusing on killing him, I only faintly noticed the woman laughing hysterically in the back round. Until I heard her say

"Good work, my pet. You've done well. Maybe well enough to do it for real." my breath stopped, and I started coughing up blood. I looked down at my hands, and they were covered in blood. And that blood wasn't mine. Then everything went black.

I shot up in bed. I was in a cold sweat. I looked at my arms, to make sure they weren't bloody. They weren't, and I sighed in relief. I had been having dreams like this for the past week. Aunt Lauren hadn't been able to reach Kit, Simon, Tori, and Derek, and I was worrying like hell. The dreams made it worse. School was okay, I guess. The dance had been postponed, and was tomorrow. Beth and Kari had sensed something was wrong with me, and had the sense not to pry, but instead took me shopping for dresses. It helped a bit, and now I had a cute midnight blue dress with silver sparkles. It faded down to purple as you went down the dress, and the sparkles were supposed to be stars, like the night sky. It looked really great with my strawberry blonde hair, which was returned to normal by a really expensive hairstylist. The shopping had helped take my mind off things, but it didn't stop the dreams. I shook my head and got out of bed. Annette knocked on my door.

"Chloe, hurry up, honey! Breakfast is on the table, and don't forget to wear the new outfit your father bought you, because he's coming home for dinner!" I sighed, knowing that whatever my father bought was probably not something I wanted to be seen in public in. I loved the guy, be had no taste in girls clothing. I really hoped that he had let Aunt Lauren pick it out. I walked to my closet and pulled the box out from the bottom. He had sent it yesterday, but I had been afraid to open it. I hastily pulled off the lid, and found.......... a gift card. I frowned, but was a bit relieved. Why such a big box though? At least he hadn't picked out clothes for me. It was a mall debit card, meaning I could buy anything from a certain mall with it. Apparently it had $300 dollars on it. But it still meant I had to take the time to go out and get something, which I did not mind, but it meant either going by myself or taking Annette. Kari and Beth were going on a double date tonight (they had been talking about it all day yesterday), so they were out, and Annette, well, lets just say she was not the most ideal shopping partner. I could take Aunt Lauren, who was a good shopper, but seeing her always made me remember the people I was worrying about, and I was trying to not worry about them, so that would just make things worse. I sighed. I guess I was shopping by myself. I threw on a cute shirt, some jeans, and some converse, grabbed my bag, and walked downstairs. Annette handed me some toast.

"Eat on the way honey, or you'll be late for school." She also gave me a banana ("its healthy!" rolls eyes), and shooed me out to the limo. Abby was in the backseat. Today she was wearing a purple hoodie, black jeans, and red converse. She really needed to dress more like an adult, and I told her that.

"I have all the rights to wear what I want, and besides, its not like wearing this makes me any less qualified to protect you." I rolled my eyes, and dropped my bag on the seat.

"At least I dress my age." she grimaced at me. She was such a little kid. I laughed, and Milo, the driver smiled at me.

"Hey kid, how's your morning so far?"

"Regular as it can be with her here," Abby stuck out her tongue at me. I smirked, and settled into my seat. Milo's driving got us to school on time. Abby walked with me to the front of the school, where Kari and Beth were. They smiled as I came up, and we walked to our lockers together. 

"Hey, Chloe! Have you asked Brent to the dance yet? He hasn't said yes to anyone yet, or asked anyone, and the dance is tomorrow!" Kari smiled. I cringed.

"I don't think I want to ask anyone to the dance. I just want to go and dance with anyone I want to." Kari and Beth frowned.

"Oh come on Chloe, just ask him. He won't say no. I bet he's been waiting for you to ask, but been to scared to ask you," Beth put her arm around my shoulders and turned me in the direction of Brent. Or, I thought, maybe he just didn't want to go with anyone, and if I asked him, he'd just say he didn't want to go to the dance with a schizo, and I would run away like a wimp. Besides, I sincerely didn't want a date. Both Kari and Beth pushed me forward, and I stumbled, and bumped into someone.

"Chloe?" I looked up, and I stopped breathing. My dream flashed in front of my eyes, and I shrieked and ran towards the bathroom. It was Nate. Just before I made it to the safety of the all girl area, a hand wrapped around my arm. I turned to see Nate latched onto it.

"Chloe?" this time I had the sense not to scream. I wasn't dreaming, he wasn't a dead sadistic zombie, he was just a person. I faked a smile and looked at him.

"Nate?" his worried face relaxed, and my smile became real.

"So you're okay? I haven't seen you since....that day. I thought you were....dead. But you're not! So how are you?"

"I'm fine. I've been back for a week, but I haven't seen you around. Where have you been?"

"I was in Indiana visiting my relatives."

"Oh." it was awkward for a minute. Nate let go of my arm, and I fiddled with the strap on my bag.

"So, um, how have you been?" I asked. He smiled at me.

"Fine. I got the director's spot for the short film."

"Really? That's great! What's it about?" He went on to tell me all about it, and I was laughing at some of the stupid things he did in order to make his movie perfect. Beth and Kari had been watching us from across the room, and the were signaling for me to do something. I mouthed 'what?'. They mouthed back 'ask him!'. I became confused, and made sure I answered Nate's question without letting it show. Then went back to mouthing. 'Ask him what?' they rolled their eyes. 'To the dance!' WHHAAAAATT? I shook my head frantically, but then Kari stuck her hand in hand in my locker and pulled out my favorite video camera (I had more than one), and mimed dropping it. I gasped. Nate looked at me quizzically.

"What?" I smiled at him.

"Nothing, I just didn't know you were allowed to do that in a short film."

"Oh." he went back to talking about the film, and Kari moved to holding the camera by just the hand strap. I mouthed 'evil!' to them, and took a big breath.

"Nate." He stopped mid sentence.

"Yeah?" I took another big breath.

"Um, would you....like to......got to the dance with me?" I looked at my feet, my face probably beet red. He took my hand and I looked up.

"Sure," He said, and smiled at me. The bell rang, and Kari and Beth pulled me off to class, asking for details. I noticed, right before I was dragged into the English classroom, Brent. He was staring at me, looking a little hurt. Great. He had been waiting for me. Well shit.

…......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

I went shopping later that day, and found some pretty cute stuff. For dinner with my dad, I found a nice purple shirt with black stripes, some black capris, and some black flats with a ruffle thing on the toe. My amulet matched perfectly, and I had been wearing it on a black ribbon that I had gotten while on the run. Looking at it made me remember the others, and I almost started crying right there in the dressing room in Macy's. But I calmed myself, got some chocolate, bought myself some really expensive heels to go with my dress, and had Milo drive me home. Abby had been with me the whole time, and she easily made me forget my worries by acting like a two year old. When Milo dropped me off at the house, Abby waved from the back seat, and I was glad she had come with me. She was a good shopper, despite her personal wardrobe. Annette was making lasagna, and it smelled really good, so I quickly changed into my new clothes and came down for dinner. When my dad arrived, he immediately hugged me. This had happened both previous times he had come home. Probably just to make sure I was still here. He must have really been worried about me. I hugged him back, and he ruffled my hair and let go. We sat down and ate the lasagna with Annette, and Aunt Lauren was there too. She hadn't gone back home yet, and it was nice having her there. The lasagna was as good as it smelled, and I went to bed with a full stomach.

The next day, I woke up sweating again. Same dream as the night before. Except before it ended, the dream changed, and I had been sitting on a hammock, looking at the sunset, with someone's arms around me. I snuggled closer into the person's chest, and they kissed my hair.

"I love you, Chloe." It was Derek. Then I woke up. I started crying. I missed them all, a lot. I hadn't heard from them, and they could be running for their lives and I didn't know, all because I had had to leave. They could be dead, and I wouldn't know. I was crying there for at least twenty minutes. I could still feel Derek's arms around me. I doubt we loved each other, because I didn't feel that way, and I knew he didn't either, but that doesn't mean I didn't miss him. Simon and Tori too. I looked at the clock on my bed side table. 5:00 am. Perfect. I doubted I was going to be able to get back to sleep, so I got up and got dressed. Today was the dance. I'll worry about Simon, Tori, and Derek later. I watched TV for an hour, and then when Annette got up she made me breakfast. I had bacon and eggs, and then she shepherded me off to school. I met Abby in the limo, and talked her and Milo like I didn't have a care in the world. But in the back of my mind, I couldn't stop thinking about the others. I had a bad feeling something was going to happen. But I pushed the thoughts back, and went on with the day. I met up with Nate in science, and he told me he would pick me up at six. We talked about the film festival in New York that was happening next week, and he asked me to go with him. I said yes, and Beth and Kari cheered, saying it was our first date. I turned red and said it wasn't but they proceeded to shout out in the hallway between classes that me and Nate were dating. I wanted to strangle them, but Nate squeezed m hand and smiled at me, so I kept my mouth shut. Again, I noticed Brent staring at me. But I'd deal with that later. I'll just focus on the dance right now. When I got home later, Aunt Lauren helped me get ready. She did my make-up, and took pictures of me in my dress and heels. The door bell rang, and Aunt Lauren shooed me up the stairs so I could make an entrance. She let Nate in and complimented him on his tux, and he asked where I was. She told him I was getting ready, and then called up to me. I counted to ten, then started down the stairs. I heard Nate gasp, and I looked at him, and gasped too. He looked really good in his tux, like really good. Like, hot. Exactly when I thought that, I felt myself blush, and I looked down. I rushed down the last couple steps and made my way over to him. He smiled at me, and I just looked into his eyes, smiling back. His beautiful, green eyes. I gasped and looked down, and made sure my hair hid my unexpected tears. Thank God Aunt Lauren had given me waterproof makeup. Nate lifted my chin up with his fingers, a worried look in his eyes.

"Something wrong?" I shook my self and smiled.

"No, just nervous," he smiled back.

"Yeah, me too." Aunt Lauren took a picture of us together, and then Nate walked me out to the limo he rented. It was pretty much the same as the one I had every day, except it was white, and it had a different feel to it than my regular limo. And Milo wasn't driving. I slid into the limo next to Nate, and he closed the door. The driver started the car, but there was a glass window in between the front and the back, so I didn't know what he looked like, and we couldn't talk to him. We had the back all to ourselves. At first it was awkward. Eventually, I plucked up the courage to lean my head onto his shoulder, and I felt him relax and slide his arm around me. It felt similar to...Derek's arms, and I felt a pang of hurt. But I suppressed it, Nate didn't need to know I was in pain. I was supposed to be enjoying this, for God's sake!

"So, what type of movie do you want to see at the film festival next week?" that broke the silence. We talked about the different types, and how we hoped that there would be some funny ones, and that Nate had heard that there was going to be a famous director there. By the time we arrived at the dance, it didn't feel awkward anymore. We met up with Kari, Beth, and their dates at the door. The gym looked spectacular. It was decorated in silver and lime green, and there was s DJ and a dance floor and good looking food on a buffet. We talked with people, and danced some. Then a slow song came on, and Nate pulled me onto the dance floor. He put his arms around my waist, and I put mine around his neck. We didn't say anything, we just danced to the music, and I put my head on his chest. But then he stopped, in the middle of the song. I looked up.

"What's wrong?" he smiled down at me, embarrassed.

"Um, I know this is really bad timing, but I sorta need to go to the bathroom." I laughed.

"That's fine, I'll still be here when you come back." He squeezed my hand, and then went off to find the rest room. Well, now what was I supposed to do for the next ten to fifteen minutes? I was about to go sit at one of the tables, when I saw Brent making his way over. Oh shit. He stood in front of me.

"Um, Chloe?" I looked up at him.

"Yeah?"

"Um, would you.....like to dance with me?" I smiled.

"Sure, Brent, I'll dance with you." he looked like he let out a breath he'd been holding in. He took my hand and led me back onto the dance floor. It was still the slow song that me and Nate had been dancing to, so Brent put his arms around my waist, and I put mine around his neck.

"So, um Chloe, I've been meaning to ask you, are you okay?" I frowned in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Um, like since you came back, I wanted to know if you were alright." I smiled, and he looked like he relaxed.

"I'm fine. I don't even remember what happened out there, so I don't have anything bad to remember, and I've been checked over by doctors, and they say I'm fine, so there's nothing to worry about that I know of."

"Good." he said, and smiled. I smiled up at him, and I though I saw him leaning in, but it was hard to tell in the light. Then the song stopped, so I let go, and he did too.

"Well, I have to go find Nate, he's probably done and looking for me," I said. Brent nodded, expressionless.

"Yeah, you do that." he started to walk away.

"Brent," he stopped and turned.

"Thanks for the dance. I enjoyed it," I smiled at him, and he smiled back. Then he walked away. I found Nate in the hallway, being cornered by Kari.

"Have you kissed her yet?" Kari was peering down at him with fire in her eyes, and Nate was trying to get around her. I ran over.

"Kari! Let my date out!" She smiled at me and let him get by. He ran over and grasped my hand. I smiled at him, then turned back to Kari.

"Kari, what were you doing to Nate?"

"I just wanted to know if he kissed you yet. Have ya? Have ya?" I turned red.

"Kari! You can't just go up to a guy and ask him if he's kissed someone yet! You—"

"You haven't kissed yet! OMG, you have to, like right now!" Kari was jumping up and down.

"KARI!" I said. But she was using puppy eyes at me, so I turned back to Nate. He was looking at me, as if saying if that would be okay. I didn't know what to do, so he just started leaning in. I bet Kari had stopped breathing in anticipation. Our lips had almost touched when—

"CHLOE!" My heart missed a beat. I knew that voice. I heard screams, and turned. The music had stopped, and everyone was staring at the door to the gym. On the floor, there was a dark haired figure, covered in blood. He was staring right at me, with piercing green eyes. I screamed, and started running over there. Nate misunderstood my scream, and pulled me behind him. I felt someone come up behind me, and it was Brent.

"Chloe, stay behind me, I'll protect you." Nate had a determined look in his eyes, and I knew he would put the life on the line for me if I needed him too. But he misunderstood.

"NO!" I shrieked, and he stared at me. I pulled out of his grasp, but I was grabbed from behind. It was Brent.

"Chloe don't be stupid, he's probably the guy who kidnapped you. You wouldn't know because you can't remember! So stop and let us take you somewhere safe!" I stomped on his shoe, and he howled in pain and let go.

"I do know who it is! It's Derek, and he's hurt!" Nate and Brent were both staring incredulously at me, and Brent grabbed my arm again.

"Chloe don't be—" a dark shape covered in blood was there and hit Brent in the face, and he stumbled backwards. The shape turned towards me. It was Derek.

"DEREK!" I screamed, and hugged him. He hugged me back, and I didn't care my dress was ruined by the blood. Derek was here. Wait, BLOOD?

"Derek, what happened to you? And where's Simon, Tori, and Kit?" by then the whole gym was silent, staring at us. I could feel Nate and Brent staring at me. Derek's face was expressionless.

"I'm fine, but we need to go, the others are outside waiting. C'mon, move!" he pulled me in the direction of the door, but Nate and Brent stepped in front of him. They looked relatively small and weak next to Derek.

"You're not taking her anywhere." Nate was glaring up at Derek, and Brent looked like he wanted to kill him. Derek smirked and pushed past them, pulling me with him, but Nate grabbed my arm and pulled me back. Derek growled and forced Nate's hand off my arm. But Nate just grabbed my other one, and Brent took a hold of the one Nate hadn't. Derek just grabbed my shoulders and pulled, and the boy's grasps fell off me. He steered me out the door, with Brent, Nate, and Kari following. Though we had left the gym, I still felt three pairs of eyes on my back, and I knew it was the three of them. I felt another hand latch onto my arm.

"Chloe? Where are you going?" It was Beth. She had a concerned look, and I knew she was worried. But I shrugged out of her grasp.

"I have to go," Brent, Nate, and Kari grabbed me.

"NO." All four of them said. Derek growled.

"This doesn't concern you, so leave. NOW." They looked scared, and Kari let go. But Nate and Brent still had a firm grasp on my arms.

"She isn't going with you. It's illegal to kidnap someone, and I'm not letting you take my girlfriend." Nate was glaring at Derek again. Derek had frozen, an some sort of emotion crossed his face, but he changed to glaring back before I could tell what it was. He growled, and looked like he was going to start a fight. I put my arm out in front of him.

"Derek, don't start a fight. I'm coming." The others, Brent especially, looked like they wanted a fight, but froze when I said that.

"Chloe, you're not going with this guy! Are you crazy? He's probably the guy who kidnapped you!" Kari was staring at me. Nate took my hand.

"You can't go Chloe. You have no idea where he's taking you, or what he's going to do to you. Don't go," that last part, he said while looking straight at my eyes. He leaned forward and kissed me. I heard a growl behind me and Nate was gone. Kari and Beth were screaming, and Brent tried to tackle Derek, who had thrown Nate to the ground. Derek caught him, and threw him onto Nate, who was getting up off the ground with fire in his eyes. Derek grabbed my arm and pulled me in the direction of the street. Then there was a crack, and a light flashed. Derek fell to the ground with a howl of pain. I gasped and knelt down next to him, but he started to get up. I looked for the source, and my blood turned to ice. A woman was walking toward us. Kari, Beth, Nate, and Brent were all frozen were they stood. Binding spells. It was the woman from my dream.

"Chloe, how nice to finally meet you in person. So far I've only met you in your dreams, but now, we can finally start what I've been wanting to begin." she was smiling evilly, and it was creeping me out. Derek tried to stand, but he was too weak, with all that blood loss, and he just lay there next me growling.

"Chloe, run," he said, and I shook my head. I couldn't leave him and the others here to the mercy of her. I stood up.

"What do you want from me?" I glared at her and she laughed. She had long blonde hair, and it was tied into one braid in the front (like both sides came around and became one braid on her chest) (like Medusa from the soul eater anime), and she was wearing all black. Her eyes were the same color as her hair, like an amber, and were pulsing.

"You, my dear, is what I want. I want you to use your powers for me, and I intend to use whatever means necessary to make you cooperate, even if it means a few murder victims." she smiled creepily again, and looked over at the four in the binding spell. I gasped.

"But why would you want me? I'm just an out of control necromancer! Nothing really special about me at all!" I just wanted her to not think about the four of them, so maybe if her spell wore off, they could escape. She turned back to face me.

"So ignorant. But then, you have no idea what those people did to you when they messed with your genes, so how could you possibly know what I mean to do with you? Well, why don't we find out?" She pointed her hands at the others, and they glowed red as she said an incantation. I screamed at her to stop, but she didn't. A red beam shot out of her hands, and all I wanted right then was for them not to get hit, and that woman to stop. And miraculously, it stopped. The red beam evaporated into a green energy shield that had sprung up around Kari, Beth, Nate, and Brent. And it looked like the woman was choking. There was a green coil of energy around her neck, but she was smiling. She snapped her fingers and both green masses of energy disappeared.

"Exactly what I thought. Good job, you did well. But I wonder what else you can do." That was me? I looked at my hands in confusion. I just wanted her to stop, but I didn't expect anything to happen. She laughed.

"Didn't think you were capable, did you? The Edison group did a lot more to you than you thought, didn't they? And that's exactly why I need you." Something touched my leg, and I jumped and looked down. It was Derek.

"Chloe,.... go...now!" I couldn't. I looked back at the woman.

"Who are you?" She just kept smiling at me.

"My name, child, is Aerona."

"And why do you want me?"

"Because I need you."

"For what?" Before she could answer, a white van pulled up behind me and Derek. The side opened, and there was Tori and Simon.

"Get in!" They said. Aerona snarled, but Tori hit her with a lightning bolt, and she went down.

"Get the four mortals!" She screamed, and two men I though I would never have to see again jumped out of nowhere and grabbed Nate, Brent, Kari, and Beth. The struggled, but then Liam bit Kari, and she screamed. No, not them. They had normal lives, they didn't need to go through everything I had to. And Ramon bit Nate, to stop him from pulling Beth out and grabbing Kari away from Liam. He screamed too, and I started running towards them, but Simon pulled me into the van. Kit steered it over to them, and Tori hit them both with lightning bolts and they were thrown back. Simon and I pulled Nate, Kari, Beth and Brent into the van, and kit sped us away at about ninety miles per hour. We were all squished in the back of the van, me, Derek, Tori, Simon, Nate, Kari, Beth, Brent, and Aunt Lauren was back there too. She was patching up everyone's wounds, Nate and Kari first, because theirs were gushing blood, and then she moved on to Derek's multiple gashes injuries. I hugged Simon and Tori.

"Where have you guys been? I've been trying to reach you for a whole week! I was so worried!" Simon looked down.

"Sorry about that, but we didn't want to risk calling you, she might have been able to trace the call. We came as soon as we thought she was chasing a dead end, and we just wanted to get you far away. We didn't know she, Liam, and Ramon were going to follow. Derek didn't want to come, because he thought you were safer here with them chasing us, but then dad said there was the possibility they had already been tracking you from the moment you left, so we came to get you." I smiled. At least they weren't hurt. Derek came to sit next to me, Aunt Lauren had finished bandaging him. But then Nate sped over and sat in between us, and put his arm around me. Derek scowled, and Simon looked hurt. Tori smirked, and I kicked her. But then the van stopped, and we got out. We were at the top of a slanted field, outside a fence. On the other side of the fenced in area, there was a road, and some houses, and a fancy looking place with a bunch of buildings with some tennis courts. It was probably some kind of rich kid school. We had been driving for only a short time, but I had no idea where the heck we were. But Brent got to it first.

"Where the hell are we?" Kit got out of the drivers seat and came around to see us.

"We're in Connecticut. Simsbury, to be exact." Brent, Kari, Nate, and Beth freaked.

"What the fuck are we doing in Connecticut?" Brent shouted. Kit stayed calm and just answered him.

"We're here because it's far away from the woman who tried to kidnap you all, and there's some people here I want to pick up." Pick up? Now even Derek was staring at him like he was crazy.

"You have to take me back home right now! My parents would freak if they knew I left the state in the a weird van with people I don't know!" Beth was holding onto Kari with a death grip, and Kari was just frozen. Nate was pacing back and forth, and Brent was still shouting at Kit. The rest of us were just watching.

"What the hell is going on?" Nate had stopped pacing and was now facing Kit.

"I will explain tomorrow. But for now, we should find someplace to sleep that's not a cramped van." Brent exploded.

"Sleep? I'm not staying with you people! I'm getting home!"

"And how, exactly, do you propose to do that? You're over 2,000 miles from Buffalo, and we're not giving you the van. You have no other way of transportation besides your feet, and you don't have a phone. What the hell are you gonna do, walk?" Derek smirked at him. If Brent could explode again, he would have.

"Don't talk to me, jack ass. You coming in is how we all got into this mess. And besides, you're the ones who dragged me here, so take me back!" Derek smirked again.

"You think we're going to listen to you? The only reason you're here is because Chloe didn't want you dead. And that's not such a high compliment, considering by now I bet she doesn't care whether or not you just up and died here and now." I put my arm in front of Derek's chest. Brent was starting to get annoying, but he didn't deserve to die. And he had a right to freak out after he was attacked by a crazy supernatural and two werewolves, then carted off in a van in the middle of the night to a different state.

"Derek, don't be mean. He doesn't deserve to die. But he also can't go back home." Brent spluttered at me, obviously unable to be angry at me.

"Why not? And Chloe, you and Kari and Beth and Nate need to go home too! Your dad will go crazy, and so will our parents!" I cringed at the thought of my dad worried again. He had just begun to recover from that worry. But Aunt Lauren stepped forward.

"I've already called all your parents. I said I'm taking Chloe to go get further testing to make sure there's nothing internally wrong with her after these last two months, and you guys wanted to come to make sure she was okay and comfort her. I said we were going to New Hampshire."

"And my parents just said okay? There's no way!" The others nodded. Aunt Lauren shrugged.

"I also said the health teacher was coming and would give you credit if you learned something medical, and luckily for you, I was made the new health teacher this morning. They agreed to that." That was surprising. I had no idea Aunt Lauren was going to be the new health teacher. But she did need a job, since her old was with the Edison Group, and they're gone now. Brent was still spluttering, trying to find a reason to bring him home. But it seems he came up with nothing.

"What was going on with that woman, Aerona?" Beth asked, and we all jumped (except Derek), forgetting she was there.

"I will explain that tomorrow. Now how about we find someplace to crash?" Kit smiled at us. Here I was again, on the run with Derek, Simon, Tori, Kit, and Aunt Lauren. With some extras. So much for my normal life.

**Hey guys! sorry I'm a little late! I have this really big project, but I was sick today, so I wrote this chapter up. Its long, but good. Hope you like it! Aerona is supposed to be based off Medusa from soul eater (favorite anime right now), so if you need visualizing help, look up Medusa from soul eater. Chloe now has four guys who want to date her, though she only thinks there are two (Brent and  
Nate), and two of the mortals are gonna get powers, while another has a secret. The other one just gets annoying. And then the group picks up two more supernatural kids from CT, and their foster parents, who are also supernatural. And they try to figure out what the hell is going on with Aerona. Plus, Tori gets super mad none of the guys want to date her (especially Brent), but things work out for her eventually. But you will probably have to wait at least a week or so (probably more, cuz of my other story) to find out what happens. Til then, enjoy and review!**

**-Julie-**

**P.S. One of the new characters is totally gonna be based on me! (and maybe my brother, but more likely one of my friends). Review! **


	3. At Least It Wasn't Raining

_**Darkest Powers: Edition 2 **_By 331

This is what happens after the Awakening by Kelley Armstrong (but not the Reckoning), after they had found Mr. Bae (Simon and Derek's dad), defeated the Edison Group and the Cabal, and gone back to their old lives.

I do not own anything and it all belongs to Kelley Armstrong. I am just using her characters and adding a few of my own.

Chloe's POV

Kit led us away from the fenced area, towards the woods. Derek and Simon walked next to me, until Nate came up and slid in between me and Derek and clasped my hand in his. Derek scowled, and went to walk up with Kit. Simon looked unnerved at the sight of our conjoined hands, and he grasped the one on my other side. Nate frowned at this, but said nothing. Life on the road was going to be fun. Kari and Beth were walking together, looking terrified. Tori was trying to talk to them, but it seemed they wouldn't respond, so she gave up and tried to flirt with Brent. He tried walking faster, but Tori followed. I felt kind of sorry for Brent. But I was still drowning myself in self pity. I had three guys after me, and a guy friend who hated two of the three guys guts. Sigh. Aunt Lauren was walking up with Kit and Derek. I let go of the two guys grasping onto me, who didn't really seem to notice, because they had been having a glaring contest behind my back. I jogged up to kit.

"So, where are we going?" Derek and Aunt Lauren were listening too.

"Well for tonight, we could either crash in the woods, or we could sleep in the van. There's a supernatural's house around here somewhere, but I don't know what it looks like, just the address, and that its apparently a red house. But the people there do know me, so we could ask them if we could stay there, if we can find them. But that could take all night, considering this area is entirely residential, and I have no idea where to start looking." I nodded.

"I think looking for the supernaturals is the best idea."Aunt Lauren agreed.

"Better than sleeping on the ground." We decided to search for the house. We had been walking down a trail made from the tracks of some kind of vehicle, like an ATV or a bulldozer, when Derek said he smelled a trace of supernatural scents off the path to our left, into the woods. The four mortals (what else do I call Nate, Brent, Beth and Kari without listing their names?) thought it was a stupid idea to leave the path (words courtesy of Brent. We hadn't explained the whole werewolf thing yet), but Kit overruled, saying this was the only clue we had. We traipsed off into the forest. Simon, Nate, and Brent kept rushing forward to help me over logs, keep branches out of my way, etc. Frankly, it was getting quite annoying. Finally I just said

"Guys, I can walk in the woods by myself! I'm fifteen for god's sake, not two!" and I promptly tripped on the next root. I fell forward, right in Derek.

"Shiiiiitttt—oomph! S-sorry Derek!" He helped me up, much to the seething of the other three.

"Its fine. Just try not to trip." He went back to walking. Thank fully, Aunt Lauren had though to bring me a change of clothes, and I was not wearing a blood splattered dress and heels. I was wearing jeans and some converse, with one of my favorite tees and a hoodie. Aunt Lauren had grabbed some other stuff for me, and I lent them to Kari and Beth. The clothing was a little small, but they were thankful for anything besides their heels. The boys were still wearing their tuxes though. Simon was in a t shirt and jeans, and so was Derek. Tori was wearing a low cut shirt and some capris, but Brent still didn't care, much to her dismay. And we were all just walking through the woods in the middle of the night. At least it wasn't raining. We eventually saw some houses, and came out of the woods into a cul-de-sac. Kit sent Derek down to the other end of the street to look for the street name, while the rest of us went looking for number eleven. We found a red number eleven, and Derek confirmed the street name to be the one we were looking for. Kit started down the U driveway on the right side, and we followed him onto the porch next to the garage. He rang the doorbell, and we waited. After a minute or so, a girl with shoulder length brown hair, green gray eyes with a little blue in them, tall but slim, wearing a black hoodie and blue, green, white, gray, and yellow plaid flannel pants answered the door.

"Um, hi." she said.

Kit smiled at her.

"Could you, perhaps, be Julie?"

"Yeah. If you want to talk to my parents, my dad's out and my mom's in the shower," (the shower one was probably a lie. She was probably home alone and didn't want to say so) "so you can't really talk to them right now. Besides its like eleven pm." She looked a little uncomfortable talking to us. Maybe she was a little shy, but only her body language showed it, not her voice. I saw a Labrador laying on the floor behind her, and I hoped Derek wouldn't set it off. But it seemed calm. And she seemed impatient.

"What do you want?"

"I'm Kit Bae, and I believe I talked to your mother recently, about a month ago, I believe, about how you might be in danger. Did she tell you about this?" her faced relaxed a bit.

"Oh, you're supernaturals. Come in, and you can tell me why your here. My mom said anyone who was named Kit Bae was supernatural and could come in, because you would be coming to tell us something. Do you have to tell us something?" she seemed a little more cheerful now, knowing we were supernaturals. We all traipsed in, and she led us through a tiled front hall down to the left into a family room/kitchen. I sat on the couch, and immediately Nate and Simon sat down on either side of me. Brent went sulking off to a lazy boy chair across the room, while Derek sat in a red lather chair closer to the kitchen. Tori, Kari, Beth, and Aunt Lauren all sat at the kitchen table, while Kit and Julie remained standing. The Labrador went around and sniffed us all, and asked for attention, but surprisingly didn't freak at Derek. There was another, older Labrador asleep on a dog bed over near the TV, opposite from the kitchen. It didn't wake up, just snored a bit. Kit continued the conversation.

"Well, you guys might be endanger, you especially, but not from the threat I called about. But the most pressing matter at hand right now is that we don't have anywhere to sleep tonight, because of said threat. We were hoping to stay here, if that's alright with you." she frowned in thought.

"I dunno. My parents freak if I ask if my mom can drive my best home without previous notice of, like, three days. I don't know how comfortable they'll be if I let......how many of you are there? One, two, three,.......ten people I just met into the house at eleven o'clock at night and have them stay over when they're not home. This is the first time they let me stay home by myself over night, and if they come home to another ten people, it will be the end of my new found privileges. And I just got my iPod nano 5th generation, and I really like it."

"Maybe you could call your parents? They knew me previously too, so I don't think they say no," Kit suggested. She grabbed the phone off the counter.

"Okay, but don't be surprised if you hear screaming on the other end. And promise me, you will. My parents are all about 'stranger danger' ever since they rented the movie _Taken_ and forced me and my brother to watch it. But if you are Kit Bae, you might be able to stay. "

Julie's POV

I really don't like talking to new people too much. Unless of course, I'm switching schools and I need new friends. Which has happened twice, and next fall will be the third time. I was sitting on the couch, watching one of my favorite animes, Soul Eater, while my dogs, Checkers and Layla (both girls, Checkers 11, and Layla 5. My brother chose Checker's name, and Layla came with that one. Great dogs though. Checkers is really nice but a big chicken and doesn't really like snuggling, while Layla's an attention hog and always full of energy, a little territorial, and demands snuggling. Checker's is skinny-ish, while Layla's pudgy-ish. Both have soft ears and never bite except by accident (usually food related). I love them to death. But sometimes they can be annoying, which is why I usually retreat to the living room. They aren't allowed in there, and we have those dog gate things. There's two main reasons for this. One, my dad is slightly allergic, and needs somewhere there isn't dog hair everywhere so his sinuses don't go crazy, and two, there's a cream couch in there, and black haired dogs do not mix with that.), were either sleeping (Checkers) or lying next to the dog gate between the front hall and the living room waiting for me to come back (Layla). I could hear Layla's tail hitting the tile as she wagged it back and forth, panting, watching my every move. Luckily, I had headphones. The second season Soul Eater theme song came on, Paper Moon by Tommy Heavenly6, and I tapped my foot to it on the coffee table, singing along with the Japanese/English lyrics.

**I'm falling, **

**down into my shadow**

**Iki wo hisomete**

**Matteiru deadly night**

**Don't scary, **

**kimi ga nozomeba**

**donne sekai mo**

**Sono me ni utsu seru kara**

**See you in your dreams yeah**

**Baby**

**Kowai yume**

**Da to **

**Shitemo**

**Fairy blue kimi no tame ni**

**Hoshi wo kudaki**

**kazaritsuketa**

**Black paper moon**

**Shinjite kureta nara**

**When you're**

**Lost here**

**I am**

**Forever with your soul**

**Miagereba kagayaku **

**tsuki no youni **

I was watching Soul play the piano in his soul for the first time while Maka, Death the Kid, and Black Star along with thier weapons, Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty **(A/N: not Liz the** **ghost, Liz from Soul Eater. Liz and Patty are DTK's weapons, Tsubaki is Black Star's,** **and Soul is Maka's)** used the piano's sound to soul link and and fight for the Brew, a machine that would give Arachnophobia (evil spider witch and co., not the fear of spiders) the power to take over the world, when the door bell rang. I started freaking out. I don't even like answering the phone, let alone answering the door at ….. ELEVEN PM! WHO THE HELL COMES TO THE DOOR AT ELEVEN PM? I heard Checker's shift on her bed in the other room, and if she woke up, she'd be barking like crazy. Better open the door before it wakes her up. I plucked up my courage, and went to the door, hoping whoever it was would leave before I got there. I looked out the bay window next to the door. No such luck. I mentally prepared myself, and then turned the knob and pulled, making sure to place my body in front of Layla's so she didn't run out the door. She gets excited easily, but is usually quieter, thank god. I opened the door, and there stood a bunch of teenagers, two of the guys in tuxes, the others regularly dressed, and two adults. They were all staring at me. I internally grimaced, and gulped. I hoped they weren't selling anything.

"Um, hi." The man smiled at me.

"Could you, perhaps, be Julie?" OMG, he knew my freakin' name! Why the hell would a total stranger who came to my door at eleven o'clock at night know my name? To hide my internal freakout, I pretended to be impatient. Okay, so it wasn't too hard to pretend.

"Yeah. If you want to speak to my parents, my dad's out and my mom's in the shower (didn't want them to know I was home alone. They could be anyone! I had no idea what they would do to me!), so you can't really talk to them right now. Besides, it's like eleven pm." the guy kept smiling at me. It was starting to creep me out. The others just kept staring. I studied them more closely with my peripheral vision. There was this shortish blond girl that was in the middle, and all the guys seemed to want to be next to her. I felt their auras **(A/N:** **part of her powers, which I will explain later. Her powers are way better than just sensing auras)**, and it seemed two of them had more of a high school crush on her, while another one thought she was his soul mate, and the last one, the last one was hard to explain. He loved her, exceedingly so, way beyond the other three. He would die for her, but the love was hidden behind doubt and other things I couldn't quite comprehend. On the outside, three of them looked like they just wanted to stand next to her, while the other hung back, unreadable. There were three other girls, two who just looked a little scared and confused. Same with their auras. The last girl, looked annoyed on the outside, but on the inside she seethed with jealousy, directed toward the short blonde. I wondered what had happened. The man's aura was to confusing to go through, so many secrets and feelings and fears that I couldn't quite fit together. The woman's aura was just scared and confused, with a little protectiveness toward the short blonde. And lastly, the short blonde. She didn't seem to notice all the guys, but was staring expectantly at me. It made me especially uncomfortable, those large blue orbs boring into me. Her aura had a little annoyance with all the guys, and she was confused as to which one she actually liked. But near the back, I saw she did love one of them, just didn't really know ityet. She was also scared and confused, much more so than the others. It was like she knew something was going to happen, and she hoped to god it wouldn't. I wondered if she was precognitive. Then I snapped back to the conversation. The man looked like he was going to say something.

"What do you want?" I said before he could talk. He just kept smiling, and it was really starting to annoy me.

"I'm Kit Bae, and I believe I talked to your mother recently, about a month ago, I believe, about how you might be in danger. Did she tell you about this?" Oh, so that's how he knew my name. My mom had had a couple phone conversations with him about a month back, about what I don't know. But apparently she knew him from since before I was born, and that if he ever showed up when her and dad weren't home, I was to open the door and let him in, because he's a supernatural too. She said he would have something important to tell us if he ever came. But danger? I didn't know anything about that. I let myself relax visibly, though I was still wary on the inside.

"Oh you're supernaturals. Come in, and you can tell me why your here. My mom said anyone who was named Kit Bae was supernatural and could come in, because you would be coming to tell us something. Do you have to tell us something?" I stepped back and let them in, my hand on Layla's collar. She really wanted to sniff the new people, but I made her wait until everyone was somewhat comfortable in the family room/kitchen. I made an effort to not seem wary of them, and I felt in their auras that they believed it. Thankfully, Checkers didn't wake up and go ballistic, like I knew eventually she would. She didn't mind werewolves, which was surprising to most people, and neither did Layla. Checkers just didn't like tall men. Or tall men with hats and sunglasses. I mean, once she sniffs you and you're nice to her, she's okay, but at first she barks a bit. Its just how she is. She also just barks randomly at people she doesn't know, but she gets over it quick. I hoped these people would leave and I wouldn't have to deal with that. When everyone was sitting except for me and Mr. Bae, he continued our conversation.

"Well, you guys might be endanger, you especially, but not from the threat I called about. But the most pressing matter at hand right now is that we don't have anywhere to sleep tonight, because of said threat. We were hoping to stay here, if that's alright with you." I frowned. My parents were not going to like this. And besides, who in their right mind would let a guy you just met two minutes ago and his buddies come sleep in your house? Did I mention it was 11:02pm? Even if you're mom knew him before you were born. I didn't let that show, just calmly expressed my thoughts.

"I dunno. My parents freak if I ask if my mom can drive my best friend home without previous notice of, like, three days. I don't know how comfortable they'll be if I let......how many of you are there? One, two, three,.......ten people I just met into the house at eleven o'clock at night and have them stay over when they're not home. This is the first time they let me stay home by myself over night, and if they come home to another ten people, it will be the end of my new found privileges. And I just got my iPod nano 5th generation, and I really like it." Mr. Bae thought for a sec.

"Maybe you could call your parents? They knew me previously too, so I don't think they say no," he suggested. I had thought of that, but I didn't really want to. If I called them, it would sound like I was too young to stay home alone, and I really liked my new found respect from my parents. Plus, I don't think they'd be too happy I let strangers into the house, even if mom knew one of them (he was still a stranger to me). But I knew the fastest way back to my Soul Eater was to call them, so I grabbed the phone off the counter.

"Okay, but don't be surprised if you hear screaming on the other end. And promise me, you will. My parents are all about 'stranger danger' ever since they rented the movie _Taken_ and forced me and my brother to watch it. But if you are Kit Bae, you might be able to stay." I dialed my mom's cell, and waited, counting the rings. The other kids just stared at me, except for one of the guys, the tall dark one, who was staring at Layla, as if he thought she would attack him. He stiffened as she came near, but she just ambled over and rubbed her head against his knee. He sat in shock for a sec, then started petting her head, like he had never done that before. The Asian guy was gaping at that, and so was the short blonde. Mr. Bae just looked surprised, while the woman had gasped like he had just told her that the short blonde was pregnant. The rest were just looking around, glances occasionally catching mine. Only the short blonde was still staring at me. I hoped her supernatural power wasn't something that could tell her I desperately wanted them to leave. Or at least stop staring at me. My mom picked up on the seventh ring.

"Hello?"

"Mom?"

"Julie? What's wrong?" her voice had become strained.

"Nothing's wrong. Well, I hope not, anyway. I mean, people die every second, and there's people being assaulted all over the world right now, and a war going on over in Africa (Pakistan, Irac, Iran, Afghanistan stuff. Oil stuff. **(A/N:I don't really watch the news, so if this wrong please tell me)**). There's been a couple earthquakes and stuff, and China has all those pollution problems. And the Shugo Chara Party season ended, so I don't know if they're continuing. And Pandora Hearts has been suspended on the One Manga website, so I'm really mad because another chapter could be out and I wouldn't know. And the next 12 Soul Eater episodes don't come out in English until June, so I've had to watch it in Japanese, which I don't mind, cause I love Japanese, but I like the English voices better, and I can't get those episodes on my iPod until they come out in English. And―,"

"JULIE!" my mom yelled.

"What?"

"Stop being a smart ass and just tell me why you called at eleven pm for!"

"Oh, you meant if anything was wrong here! No, I'm fine." she sighed. The others in the room were looking at me like I was strange. I couldn't take them staring at me. So I went behind the counter and sat with my back against the cupboards. I bet they were really confused now, but I get really anxious and uncomfortable when I'm on the phone. Especially when people watch me when I'm on the phone. But for some reason its not as bad with cell phones. So I hid behind the counter and relaxed myself, sitting on the floor, and continued talking to my mom.

"Um, the reason I called was, well, Kit Bae came to the door." I heard my mom gasp, and then silence.

"Julie, stay there, and do what Kit tells you. We're coming home, and so is Aaron (my brother)." her voice was strained again, and was using her "obey or die" voice. I quickly clarified things.

"Wait, Mom, its not like that. Kit and some others need somewhere to stay, and he asked if they could stay here. Like, over night. I said I wasn't sure and called you. So, can they stay?" she paused, thinking. If only she was next to me, I could give her the glance that said 'make them leave', but alas, she wasn't. Besides, if they really didn't have anywhere to go, it would be heartless to send them out into the warm, spring night in a suburb, where there was a stable right down the street. And they could always stay in the gym at Ethel Walker's **(A/N: rich all girl school seen earlier. Its their stable, for horseback riding)**. Or just sleep in the grass. But I suppressed my feelings of annoyance. You see, at my elementary school, I was always picked on or shunned by the popular people. I don't think there was any particular reason, I wasn't ugly, or stupid, or a jerk unless I had to be. I was abnormally tall, and still am, but that's just genetics. I struggled making friends because of them, so I learned to like being alone, and became kind of shy because of it. On my first day at my new middle school, I was so scared I couldn't talk. The entire day. If I'm comfortable around the people, I am outgoing and loud and awesome. But if I don't know anyone, am uncomfortable, or just don't like whose there, I lapse into awkward silence, and try to find other things to occupy myself, the whole time wishing the people would just go away. Or that I could leave. I've learned to put on an outside act when ever strangers talk to me, which is usually polite and cheery, unless I think I shouldn't be talking to them, or that they intend to do something bad. But right then, I just wanted to be alone, because I had gone to a dance the day before, and the guy I liked was there, but so was the girl he just broke up with, and she's one of my close friends. And I was too scared to ask him to dance while she was there, and then when she left, I chickened out and still didn't ask him. So I was down and berating myself for it, and just wanted to watch Soul Eater to help me forget. I didn't need 10 people I didn't know staying at my house. Because its rude to ignore company, says my mom's voice in my head. And I don't _know_ them. I just wanted to go blast Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol while I laid in the grass in my backyard, but I have to watch the dogs, and they get to curious and excited outside, plus, in May, its buggy outside. So, if I haven't expressed this already, I wanted to be _alone_. I waited for her answer with my fingers spiritually crossed.

"Oh. Of course he can. Let him in, but you sleep in our room honey. Your father has some stuff in there we don't need to show company. We'll be back tomorrow, okay? Make sure they don't break anything, and don't go swimming in the pool without Kit watching. And brush you're teeth, or your braces will look bad. Make sure the dogs are let out around eleven thirty." I grimaced openly, since no one could see my face when I was on the floor behind the counter.

"Fine, mom. I'll see you tomorrow. Kit says hi. Bye," and I hung up. I put the phone on my chest and just sat on the floor, looking at the window that was pitch black because of the night. I sighed. So much for my alone time. I never got any time to myself anymore, except when everyone else was asleep and I stole the laptop from upstairs (my parents don't let it downstairs where the bedrooms are. They think I'd never come out of my room if they did. Which is true, but only because they can be so annoying, and in my room I can shut the door, and am still able to look out a window and read and not be bothered by people unless I need food. I sighed again, and got up off the floor, putting on a smile. Here goes nothing. I put on my polite/cheery act, reciting One Step Closer by Linkin Park in my head to calm myself.

"She said you can stay." Kit smiled, and the others looked relieved. Layla padded over and I rubbed her ears, and it helped me relax a bit. I knew if I got too stressed, my control would crack, and my powers would come out, and that's something I didn't need to deal with right now.

"So, um, I guess we should divide up the rooms?" the woman said. I nodded, getting ready to recite the house rules.

Chloe's POV

Julie was explaining the rules to us. She seemed almost put out, like she'd rather she'd still had the house to herself. I hoped it didn't mean she didn't like us. If she did, she was hiding it well. But I hoped things would get easier with a place to stay that wasn't a cramped van.

"Okay, so my mom said not to break anything. Don't go outside until tomorrow, and don't fight. I'll sleep in my parents room, and two of the girls can take my room. There's also my brother's room, a queen sized futon, the guest room, and two regular couches. Take you pick. But I want a full explanation in the morning. Right now I just want to finish the episode of Soul Eater I was watching on my laptop. You guys can use the SNES, the Nintendo64, the Game Cube, the Wii, the regular TV, and the old arcade Gauntlet game. But we only have two TVs for the video game systems, so pick some four player games. And if you need extra clothes, I bet I can fix you up. Anyone want food?" Kit split up the beds, so there would be no fighting. Me and Tori got Julie's room, Simon and Derek shared the Julie's brother's room, Kari and Beth got the guest room, and Brent and Nate would have taken the futon, but they refused to share a bed, so Aunt Lauren agreed to share with it Kit while Brent and Nate took the upstairs couches. All the bedrooms besides the master suite was on the lower floor, or basement (the house was built into a hill, with the front door on the upper level and most of the bedrooms on the lower level. From the front, it looked like a ranch style house, but from the back, you could see both levels). The master suite was down the hall through the living room off the front hall, and a dining room was smushed in between the kitchen and the living room. It was a mostly open floor plan, with arches instead of doors, except to the bathroom and a little office of the front hall that connected to the living room. It sounds extremely complex, but really it isn't. Julie led everyone to their rooms and pulled out some extra blankets for the futon and those on the couches. The guest room was pink, with red carpeting (she said they had the carpet in the master suite originally, and when they redid those rooms, the carpet was still in really good shape, and had been really expensive, so they just moved it into the guest room), and Kari didn't really like it, but obliged because she just wanted a bed. Julie's brother's room was gray and red. She said he had wanted to paint it black but their mother had said no. It wasn't like a goth room or anything, but a typical teenager's room with stuff thrown about, and a guitar in the corner. Simon loved it, and Derek didn't voice his opinion. The futon was big, and it fit Aunt Lauren and Kit quite easily. Then Julie showed me and Tori her room. It was a light purple, and really cramped. She complained about having the smallest room in the house and how she was going to paint it lime green and aqua, but the reason it was so small was because it so damn cluttered. She had pictures of anime characters all over her walls, a desk right as you come in the door overflowing with stuff, the bed right behind, loaded with stuffed animals, and two nightstands up against the wall on the other side. She also had a purple star and moon curtain hanging in front of the little alcove that led back to the door, which made the room look even smaller. She had two big dressers, one with a mirror, a purple bookshelf, a giant inflatable purple alien, and clothes flung about the room. Not to mention the books. Books were sticking out of everything. Her bookshelf was overflowing, both her nightstands had two or three stacks at least a foot high each, and then there were books just miscellaneously placed everywhere else. There were also some really good sketches pinned up next to her nightstand. Five of them were of Yami Yugi or Yugi or both from Yugioh, one was of Yusei from Yugioh 5Ds, one was of Yoru from Shugo chara, one was of Soul Evans from Soul Eater, one was of Link from Legend of Zelda, one was of a dog sleeping, and one was just of a anime like male person. She also had some other random sketches thrown about the floor, and around the other walls, but most were over in the corner with her nightstand. The covers on her bed were ruffled over there too, so I knew where she usually sat when she was in here. There was a big sliding window/door that took up most of the far wall, which made the room seem even smaller. She apologized for the mess.

"Sorry about the mess. I can move all the stuffed animals off the bed, and clear the floor, and change the sheets, and you guys will be fine. And if you see a book pile about to fall over, catch it and move some of the books somewhere else." She started clearing a way through the mess, and then began to strip the bed. The reason the books weren't on her bookshelf (there were some, just more thrown about the room) was because there were so many sketch pads. I think I had just found Simon his soul mate. Julie picked up all the stuffed animals save a couple and moved them to the top of the pile of clothes at the foot of her bed. She then put some pink sheets on the bed, and let us settle in.

"If you need anything, just ask. The bathroom is down the hall, the first door on your right, about 2 feet from here. Just don't go in the closet, its a mess." she grabbed some shorts and a tight t shirt (and those couple stuffed animals she had saved), saying she was hot. When she came out in them, and I think Nate and Simon were drooling. She was slim and had some curves, but they weren't all the way there yet, like mine. I asked how old she was, and she said fourteen since march. She also said her brother was sixteen. Great, another boy to watch out for. She went to watch Soul Eater in the master suite upstairs. Aunt Lauren and Kit went to watch a movie on the giant TV upstairs, and Derek went looking for food in the kitchen. Tori, Nate, Simon, and Brent went into the playroom (Julie called it that, but it was more like a bonus room. It had two TVs, a pool table, a workout machine, a desk with a dated computer, some video game systems, the futon, a game table [air hockey, ping pong, Foosball, etc all in one], a random table under the stairs, and a mini bar with a small fridge and sink. There was some soda in it, but Julie said we shouldn't drink it, it had probably been there for years. This room was to the left of the stairs on the lower level, but snaked around under the stairs and came out on the right side of them back into the hallway. The three bedrooms were all on the outer wall, while the bathroom and the real basement slash laundry room was towards the center of the house.) to play on the Wii on the large TV, while Beth played Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess for the Game Cube on the smaller one. That left me with nothing to do, so I went out onto the back deck off the living room. The night was peaceful and quiet, and I could see the stars. There was also a pool, a large hill, and some more forest down beyond the house. It was a nice backyard. I sat at the top of the stairs from the deck onto the ground, and just watched the stars, thinking. We were safe, for now. But what we're we going to do about Aerona? And what was she going to do it us? So many questions, and no answers. At least it wasn't raining. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and for the first time in my life, I didn't jump.

"Hey, Derek." he grunted, and sat down next to me, a sheath of crackers in one hand. He opened it and offered me some, and I took one and nibbled it. It was Ritz, and was okay for a cracker.

"What's up?" I though for a minute. Should I tell him about my dream? Probably best. I heard him growl.

"Chloe,"

"Okay fine. Its just, that woman Aerona. I've seen her before." Derek growled, more menacing this time.

"What! Why didn't you say anything. This is really important! Where did you see her?"

"Um, sh-she was in my d-dream. Every night this p-past week." I explained the whole thing, through which he was silent.

"This is bad. If she can get into your dreams, she's more powerful than we thought. We have to be careful." He was frowning, as if he didn't notice the whole other problem this presented.

"But what am I going to do? I'm scared to go to sleep, because she might be there! But I can't just not sleep! Its physically impossible to never sleep!What if she does bad things to me?" I was freaking out. He looked like that part hadn't actually dawned on him, and was now understanding my pain. Great, even the college level smart kid didn't know what the hell to do. I was so going to die. If not from Aerona, from being smothered by too many boys. Or if Tori killed me first. I sighed, leaning my head onto something hard, not really caring what it was. I was dozing, looking up at the stars, when my hard something moved. I sat up quick, realizing that in my exhaustion, I had laid my head on Derek. My face was burning.

"S-sorry," I stuttered. I couldn't really see his face in the light.

"s'fine," he said. I was unable to gauge his reaction from the tone of his voice, and I sat there in embarrassment. We sat out there for a while more, just looking up at the stars.

"We should go in, it's late," Derek said. I nodded, and he offered me his hand. I took it, and he helped me up. We were walking toward the house, when Nate opened the sliding door and stepped out.

"Chloe. I'm glad I found you. I need t―," and then he saw Derek. If Nate could have growled he would have. I grimaced. Here it comes.

"What are you doing out here with my girlfriend?" Girlfriend. Why did that word all of a sudden sound so dreadful? Derek actually did growl.

"Why should I tell you? It's not like you need to know." I really wanted to slap them both. Instead, I created a distraction.

"Um, guys, I don't feel so good. I think I'm gonna go lie down." They both turned their attention to me. Nate slipped his arm around my shoulders and led me back to the door. I looked back at Derek and smiled. He smiled back briefly, and then resumed scowling at Nate's back. At least I had stopped a fight. One point for Chloe, ten thousand for the god of dating, who seemed to hate me when it came to men. I let Nate lead me inside, and then told him I was going to go to the bathroom, and he left to go set up his bed for the night, the family room couch. I slipped past the bathroom, through the office, through the corner of the living room, and headed towards the master suite. I knocked gently on the door. I needed outside advice, from someone who didn't know anyone, or had any previous opinions. And there was only one person here with that luxury. I heard a sigh.

"Come in," I pushed open the door and walked in. the master suite had another doorway into the bathroom, a small wall, and then the door to a large closet, there was a large dresser with a mirror, and a king sized bed. The whole room was sea green. There was a forest green chair with a pile of woman's clothes on it, and the bed was connected to a large built in with wardrobes on either side of it, and a mirror as a headboard with a wooden mantle thing on top connecting the two wardrobes. All of the wood, dresser included, was stained dark brown. Like dark chocolate brown. There was another small closet on the other side of the dresser. In the middle of the room, Julie was on the bed, watching Soul Eater on her laptop. She looked disgruntled.

"Need something?"

"No, I just wanted to talk."

"Oh," she clicked something on the computer screen, and it immediately went dark, and she closed the laptop and took her earphones out. I walked over and sat down on the side of the bed.

"So, what do you want?" I contemplated on how to start the conversation, when she spoke again.

"oh, its boy trouble, and you want an outside opinion." I looked at her. Her irises had turned a deep shade of purple, while her pupil had disappeared. I jumped off the bed, and her eyes went back to normal.

"Sorry, I was just looking into your aura. It told me you had boy problems. Sorry if I startled you, I did it when I opened the door too, but then it wasn't as deep of a search, and I wasn't as stressed, so I could hold the illusion of regular eye color." I warily sat back down.

"So, what's your name?"

"Chloe." she nodded.

"Cutesie girl needs a cutesie name. It fits your aura. Probably picked out by another supernatural. So, what's your power?"

"I'm a necromancer. What are you?" She frowned.

"I probably shouldn't explain until my parents get back, but I'm all for not listening to them. Even so, it would be fun to let you wonder. Its decided. You're wondering until tomorrow. Onto you're problems. Only two of them actually love you, while the other two have more of a crush on you. You can probably tell which ones too. The crushes are usually more straight forward about it, and will try to date you, while the ones that actually love you will just get jealous when you date and try to protect you from everything. They probably won't come out and tell you unless they feel like its their last chance, or that they know you love them back. So look out for the signs and dump the ones that just have a crush. They'll bounce back and be after another girl in hours. But make sure to steer them in the right direction first, like if he likes me, steer him in another direction, like toward that really jealous black haired girl you're rooming with. She really likes the tall brunette. Not the really dark tall one, the medium-ish one."

"Brent?" She rolled her eyes.

"I'm not gonna know his name! Just describe what he was wearing when I opened the door!"

"Oh, um, the tall guy with the tux?"

"Yeah. Him. The short tux and the Asian kid are the crushes. Take what you will from that." If Nate and Simon were just crushes, that left Brent and..........WHAT?

"Wait a minute, two guys cannot love me. I'm me. Brent is probably just a really strong crush, and I know for a fact that Derek does not feel that way."

"All with the names again! I don't know their names! Describe them!"

"Oh, um, Simon's the Asian kid, Nate is the short tux, Brent is tall tux, Derek is dark and tall, Tori is dark haired girl, Kari has long curly golden blonde hair, and Beth had straight auburn hair. The woman is my Aunt Lauren, and you know Kit. And I'm Chloe, the short strawberry blonde."

"That helps. You know my name. This makes things easier. Simon and Nate are the crushes, and Brent and Derek are the loves. I know you love one of the four, just not sure which one. Tori likes Brent, not all love yet not all crush. Kari and Beth are so scared and confused that they're blocking any other emotion until they relax and find out whats going on. Your aunt is worried you'll get pregnant, and Kit is, well, Kit is hard to explain without knowing what's going on with him." I sat there gaping. She knew all that? And I loved someone, but didn't know who? And Brent and Derek loved me?

"Correct."

"Stop reading my mind!"

"Technically, I'm reading you're aura. There's a big difference. You're aura is more the emotion and how you see and feel life and how you live, like your soul energy, where as you mind is just you're thoughts straight out. I get a lot more info from your aura, plus I can't read your mind. I don't work like that." I sighed. I think this talk just made things more confusing.

"At least it isn't raining."

"we're inside."

"Well, yeah, but that's what the positive side of you is saying. It's trying to find the good side in things. I don't see much what the point is, but I'm not you. I'm content with Hershey's chocolate and some anime. Or manga, basically anything Japanese that has a storyline and animated, like video games. But that's just me. I only have a third of an idea what you like, since your senses and your mind are the other two factors in the like equation, and I can't read those. I hope I helped." It seemed she had dismissed me. All she had done was that for every question I asked, she gave me the answer, and then another four questions. At least it wasn't raining. Dammit, she was right. I heard her chuckle.

"Stop reading my aura!"

"I'm not, your face just looks funny." I walked out. She followed me.

"Sorry, my aura reading kinda lets me forget the whole 'other people's feelings' problem. I swear I won't read you until tomorrow." Brent was already asleep on the living room couch, so we tiptoed past. Kit was asleep on the family room couch, and Aunt Lauren was dozing in the lazy boy. That meant Nate had probably moved his stuff to the futon. Julie followed me downstairs. I checked the clock, and it was 1:00. No wonder I was exhausted. Nate and Simon were playing super Mario smash bros brawl on the Wii, and Julie rushed to join them. Beth and Kari had gone to bed, they told us, and they said Tori and Derek had gone down in the direction of their borrowed rooms earlier, and were probably asleep by now. I watched Julie kick their asses with toon Link's special move about six times, and then she switched to Sheik and put on sudden death, and every time they regenerated she would kick them with Sheik's special karate kick, and they would go flying. They were swearing and mumbling they hadn't played in a while, while she laughed evilly and crushed them. When they finally turned it off, she said that when her brother got home tomorrow, he would kill them all. Compared to him, she sucked. But she could whip his ass in Mario Kart, which she agreed to have a tournament with them in tomorrow. As I watched, I saw Simon and Nate both drooling over her, and I knew what she had said was true. It didn't make things any easier, but at least I knew which ones not to pick. Of course now, I still had to figure out the other two. Simon stayed out there with Nate on the futon, knowing that if he went in to sleep with Derek, he'd just wake him up. Julie walked with me back to her room, where we found Tori snoring. She said that there was pajamas in the bottom drawer of the larger dresser that might fit me. I pulled out some flannel pants with clouds and moons and star all over them, and found a yellow tank top to go with them, and put them on. Julie went back upstairs, and I crawled into bed next to Tori. At least we had beds. I let myself doze off, thinking random things.

At least it wasn't raining.

**Hey guys! I know this is early, and for you guys who was waiting for the other story, I'm sorry! I was so excited to introduce new characters, I couldn't write about the other one! but that's what I'm doing next. Right after I study for my math final and my french final. And do my English homework. Bleh! I hope you guys like it, I made it especially long just for you! Read and review!**

**P.S. Julie's house is my actual house. My room really is that small and messy, and I do have that many Nintendo systems. And the arcade gauntlet game literally has the whole box thing you put quarters into. But we have the key for the little doors to the money, so we just reuse the quarters. But my real brother's name isn't Aaron. I just like that name. He really is good a super Mario smash brothers, melee, brawl, and 64. and my house is that cool. Its just really a lot smaller than it sounds, because when I write it up, it sounds like a mansion. And its really not. Review!**


	4. New Werewolves and Julie's Powers

_**Darkest Powers: Edition 2 **_By 331

This is what happens after the Awakening by Kelley Armstrong (but not the Reckoning), after they had found Mr. Bae (Simon and Derek's dad), defeated the Edison Group and the Cabal, and gone back to their old lives.

I do not own anything and it all belongs to Kelley Armstrong. I am just using her characters and adding a few of my own.

**Chloe's POV**

I woke up groggily, to the sound of Tori's snores. For some reason, Aerona had not been in my dreams. I looked at the clock on the nightstand, and it said 7:30. Too early to get up after falling asleep at 1:30. I got out of the bed, knowing with Tori snoring in my ear I'd never get back to sleep. I walked down the hallway towards the stairs, and when I reached, I saw that Aunt Lauren and Kit were now on the futon in the playroom, meaning Simon had gone back to sleep with Derek and Nate had gone up to the couch. I made my way up stairs into the family room, and found the couch empty, meaning Nate was...? I was too tired to care, and went and got myself a glass of water. I gulped it down, then stumbled my way back to the couch and lay down, and fell asleep almost instantly.

But not for long.

"WHAT THE HELL?" I opened my eyes to see Nate staring at me. Or rather, at something behind me. I finally registered I was laying on something. Or, that is, someone. I shrieked and jumped off the couch. I had fallen asleep on top of Derek. He had been under a blanket that was the same color as the couch, and I had been laying with my head on his chest. I must have been too exhausted to have noticed him laying there. But why didn't he wake me up?

"WHY WERE YOU LAYING ON TOP OF HIM?"Nate was directing his fire at me, like it was my fault I had become unconscious on top of a guy on a couch at 7:30 in the morning! I saw Simon, Brent, and Beth peeked around the wall from the stairs. Tori just walked in, annoyed.

"Could you guys shut the hell up? Some people actually want to sleep later than 8:45." 8:45? Why had Derek let me sleep on him for an hour and fifteen minutes? I remembered Julie reading my aura last night, and what she had told me. No. I knew Derek didn't like me like that. I wasn't even going to go there. But what other reason is there? He's not the kind to sleep through someone falling on top of him and staying there for a long period of time. I looked at Derek, and it looked like he was still sleeping. But I saw one eye open, make eye contact with me, and then close quickly. He was just faking to get out of a fight with Nate. Smart, but that left me out in the cold.

"Chloe, why were you on top of Derek?" Nate sounded calmer, but I could still hear the strain in his voice. I knew I was beat red, but I explained what happened quickly.

"I-I woke up b-because of Tori's snoring, and came up to g-get a glass of w-water at around 6:30. B-but I was really exhausted from staying up until 1:00, so I just wanted to find somewhere to lay down quick before I collapsed on the floor. In the dark, it looked like the couch was empty, so I walked over and laid down, falling asleep before I was even all the way down. I had no idea Derek was there at all. And it looks like he slept through the whole thing too." I saw the fire go out of Nate's eyes, and I internally relaxed. By then, almost everyone had woken up and was watching, which made me turn a brighter red. I didn't see Julie, though. Or Kari.

"It was really an accident?" I nodded. Nate smiled.

"Well, we better wake him up now, I guess. He's gonna want breakfast." Kit said. Tori walked over.

"Aw, couldn't we draw on his face first?" Me, Kit and Simon frowned.

"No." We said in unison.

"Buzz kill," she said, and flicked Simon off. He rolled his eyes and went to sit at the kitchen table.

"So, whose gonna make breakfast? I'm starved." Aunt Lauren sat in the leather chair.

"We should probably wake Julie up and ask her what we can use, first. After that, maybe I can whip up some pancakes." all the guys magically appeared at the kitchen table at the word pancakes (not really, they don't have those kind of powers). I sighed. Boys. Tori said she was going back to bed, while Beth joined the boys at the kitchen table. Kari still hadn't come up, Nate said he didn't feel up to breakfast and went to go lay down on the futon. I volunteered to go get Julie, and Simon jumped to go with me. We walked straight down the hall towards the master suite. I was about to knock on the door, when Simon saw something.

"Chloe, read the sign first." Sign? I looked up at the door. There was a piece of paper taped to it. Oh that sign. I pulled it off and read it.

_Do Not Disturb Unless Emergency_

_Please do not wake me up unless I am really needed, I'd rather sleep and ignore the world until at least 10:30. You can eat anything in the right side of the fridge or the Eggo waffles in the freezer. In the rest of the kitchen, just use common sense and eat only breakfast food. If anyone feels helpful, I would appreciate it if you let the dogs out to relieve themselves, and then fed them and gave them water. Checkers eats on the rug next to the fridge and Layla eats on the rug next to the front door. Checkers is to be served first, because we want Layla to know Checkers is higher in rank in the house than she is, because we had Checkers first and she's older. The dog food is the garage in an old style metal garbage can, they only get a cup of it each, its the dry kind, but we pour water over it to make it easier for Checkers, and decided to do it with Layla so she gets used to it. Make sure they don't go into the living room, the dining room (it sits directly between the kitchen and the living room), or downstairs. If you need to throw away stuff, the garbage can is in the cupboard on the left side of the fridge on the bottom.. And if any of you are werewolves, the dogs won't be wary of you. They're used to werewolves by now. Checkers will probably bark when she sees all the new people, but if you're nice she'll get over it quick. You can also use the TV. Please don't get food on the remote. I will be out at 11:00 to claim it so I can watch the original Yu-Gi-Oh series on channel eleven (double eleven. Weird.) so don't get mad if I take the remote out of your hand. Don't break anything, and clean up any mess you make. Put all dishes in the dishwasher when you're finished eating, it will be greatly appreciated._

_-.~Julie~.- _

_P.S. Please don't use any of the kitchen ware as weapons like two year olds, and don't use the phone until I get up. If it rings, let the answering machine get it. If they leave a message and you hear my parents, have Kit pick up the phone. Anyone else, leave it to the answering machine. My parents and my brother are coming around three. If anyone needs clothes, wait until I get up to go looking. And don't go in the basement. There's nothing in there you need, unless you want laundry, a big freezer, and elliptical (work out machine), or dusty Christmas decorations. Yes, we're Catholic. Well, my parents are, anyway. I'm open to anything that will get me out of going to mass every week. The only good thing there is the Dunkin' Doughnuts down the street. So if you have any suggestions, write them here or tell me later. Don't get the dogs too excited._

It took a long time to read it. It filled both sides of the paper, but her scrawl was neat enough to be able to read even when it was that small. I wondered how long it took to make that, and when she had written it up. It hadn't been there last night. Maybe she had written it before bed. Simon and I took the note back to the others. Derek was up by then, and was already eating out of a box of cereal. I gave him a look, meaning 'you have some explaining to do'. He gave a slight nod, slight enough to make it impossible for anyone to notice without looking for it. Brent and Beth were confused about the whole werewolf statement in the note, but we said we'd explain when everyone was up and Julie's parents got here. Brent looked like he was going to protest, but Kit shut him up with a glare. Aunt Lauren began making the pancakes, and Kit started making some eggs. I put some bread in the toaster for toast, and then went to see what was on the TV.

MTV had nothing, spike had nothing, discovery had nothing, ABC family had nothing, the N had nothing, animal planet had nothing, food network had nothing, comedy central had nothing, everything had nothing. So I settled for the news. My face came up on screen, with the words MISSING GIRL FOUND typed above it, and I changed the channel to cartoon network, hoping something not mindless was on. Luckily for me, Chowder was on. I love that little purple bunny raccoon kitty. And Schnitzel. He's the best. I left it on that, to most of the guys dismay (except Simon, he loves Chowder). I got up when my toast popped, and had some pancakes and eggs with it. I also drank some orange juice. Over all, a good breakfast. We watched some more episodes of Chowder, while people talked and goofed off. Eventually, Julie walked in, and she grabbed the remote away from Simon (did I say he loved Chowder? I'm sorry, he's OBSESSED with it. He screeched when she grabbed it and started a slap war, which ended with her eyes glowing bright purple and him freaking out long enough for her to grab the remote) and flipped to channel eleven.

Sure enough, Yu-Gi-Oh turned on at exactly 11:00, and she would not talk to us while it was on, only during commercials. And then she didn't really concentrate, just anticipated when Yu-Gi-Oh would come back and hush us. So we just watched it with her. Apparently, Yugi is more than just one person, he has another spirit inside him, and he helps Yugi win. Julie said her favorite character was Yami, and I said didn't she mean Yugi, but she shrieked at me, saying 'was I listening at all?' and that Yami is the name of the 5,000 year old Egyptian Pharaoh spirit inside the millennium puzzle, even though most call him Pharaoh, and later, Atem when they find out his real name in the last season. But she prefers Yami. Apparently, he's hotter, cuter, and more buff than Yugi, way more courageous, and has a better voice. And then she went back to watching YAMI defeat possessed Marik with Slyfer the Sky Dragon and Obelisk the Tormenter against Marik's Winged Dragon of Ra on top of Kaiba's duel tower on Kaiba Corp island for the Battle City (Tournament) Finals championship duel **(A/N: Yes, I know I'm a Yu-Gi-Oh geek. But I don't play the card game, that's just too weird. I just love the ****story, and Yami, his voice is so awesome! You rock Dan Greene!(Yami and Yugi's English voice actor))**. When the hour of Yu-Gi-Oh was over, we finally got down to business.

Julie's POV

I woke up to the sound of a shrill voiced kid freaking out at someone laying on someone. At 7:45. Damn visitors. Managed to annoy me before I was even awake. Its my house, they shouldn't deprive me of sleep when I'm not even charging them for all the food and stuff their using. I had fallen asleep around 4, and did not need to wake up about 4 hours and 45 minutes later. I looked at the ceiling and tried to fall back asleep, and I would have succeeded, if I didn't hear two people stomping down the hall toward me. If they opened the door, I would scream. And my powers would not be happy. Sometimes, with my powers, I just don't know. Its kind of like they have their own personality at times, whereas at others its just me. Fortunately, I heard a guy point out the note, to Chloe apparently, and I let myself fall back into a dreamless sleep.

When I woke up later, it was at the right time. 10:55. Perfect. Gives me time to find some decent pants. I grabbed my flannel pajama bottoms (I wear guys shorts to bed and I don't think anyone needs to see them) and threw them on, and walked down the hall towards the family room. Asian kid had the remote, and was watching Chowder. I pried it from his hands after a small slap fight, and switched the TV to channel eleven. Yu-Gi-Oh came on, and I watched both episodes all the way through, making sure to come back exactly when it came back on, and gave Chloe a lecture on Yami. If she had been watching, she would have known about Yami, but clearly she wasn't paying attention. I went back to watching, trying to keep my powers in check. I believe this was another reason I couldn't deal with people so often. They set off my powers. I missed the whole last five minutes trying to see normally again, and not let my powers take control. Damn visitors. After Yami had crushed evil Marik and saved Yugi, good Marik, and Mai, tall tux decided it was time for answers. 

"Okay, we waited a whole night and had breakfast and waited for her to get up and watch her stupid show. So now, TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" (I don't think he's much of a roll with the punches kind of person). Apparently, Tuxy had a short temper, a short attention span, and an extremely small amount of patience to match. Add on a big, fat, inappropriate mouth, and u got (a bitch!) Tuxy. Even if I did agree with what he was saying. Kit sighed, and the Lauren woman was frowning with a tight lip. Everyone was there, except short tux and freaked out blonde curls.

"I don't think we should explain unless everyone is here. So we wait until Nate and Kari are up." Brent's eyes flashed.

"We can tell them later. Just give me answers!" Chloe stood up.

"I'll go get them." Ooh, helpful too. Trying to prevent a fight. Well, I like fights.

"It'd probably better if you let them sleep. Healthier, you know? And judging by how you guys looked and what time it was when you showed up on my doorstep, I don't think you had a nice quiet night either." Kit nodded.

"They'll wake up soon. We can just wait." Brent popped a gasket.

"To hell with healthy! I'll go drag them up here by their ankles!" He started for the doorway, when we heard a girl scream. Everyone bolted for the stairs, and made our way to the guest room. Kari and Nate were both lying on the bed, and something was happening to them. It was like they were having a seizure or something, and every time they jerked in a different direction, you could hear bones cracking. Beth was the one who had screamed. Now she was shaking up against the wall, deathly pale. The Lauren lady ran over to them, and tried to hold them down, and so did Derek, Chloe, Kit and Simon. Me, Brent, and Tori stood watching, and Beth was still too scared to do anything other than shake.

"They're transforming," Those words made everyone freeze. We all looked at Derek.

"You mean, Changing?" Simon asked. My heart skipped a beat.

"No, I mean the bites are tacking affect." Derek replied. "They're transforming." It skipped another beat.

"Into what?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

"Werewolves." Chloe looked like her blood had frozen, she was staring at the wall like she was reliving a bad experience.

"They were bitten. By Liam and Ramon. Last night, right before we escaped. How come I didn't remember that?" Chloe looked like she was about to beat herself up. Derek looked at her.

"You shouldn't have needed to remember it, but I should have, how could I be so stupid?" he punched the wall, and that made us all jump.

"It doesn't matter now, we have to help them. Derek, Brent, Simon, help me hold them down, and Lauren, is there anything you can do to stop the pain?" Kit had gone into action mode, and the others followed suit. I stood next to Beth, uncomfortable about what to do.

"Dad, do you know anything about werewolves transformations from being bitten?" Derek asked. Kit thought for a moment.

"All I know is that once the saliva gets into there bloodstream, there's no stopping the transformation. It will probably be scary and painful, but there's nothing we can do about that. We just have to help them through and hope they survive."

"Hope they survive? Survive what? What the hell are you guys talking about?" Brent was shouting again. Kit stopped him abruptly.

"We don't have time now. If you want your friends to live you're going to need to help us." Brent frowned, but helped hold Kari down. Simon helped him, and Kit and Derek held down Nate. They were thrashing and cracking all over the place, and each crack made everyone wince. Kit tried to get their attention.

"Nate, Kari? It's me, Kit. It's going to be okay, just focus on my voice." Another giant crack later, and Kit nodded at Derek, and he swung both of them over his shoulders and rushed out. We followed him into the back yard, where he laid them onto the ground about ten feet apart. The guys secured them again.

"Okay, in order for them to keep from losing themselves in all the pain, we need the person they care about the most to keep them focused. If someone important to them is there to help, it gives them something constant for them to hold onto. Who do they care about the most?" Tori stepped up to this.

"Nate obviously cares about Chloe the most, and so does Kari, but since the two are ten feet apart, I'd say Kari can settle for Beth. But I'm not so sure about Beth." We turned to her, and she looked like she was about to pass out.

"Maybe if we put them next to each other, Chloe can talk to them both." Kit frowned, but nodded.

"Fine, but don't put them too close. If the fully transform, it might not be good to have two entirely new to the world werewolves who can't control themselves to be right next to each other. Just put them close enough that Chloe can easily reach both." Derek grabbed Kari and pulled her closer so they were only about 5 feet apart, and Chloe sat in the middle. Derek hovered behind her, which cause Brent and Simon to come and put their hands on each of her shoulders in reassurance. Well, actually, it was more of a possessive thing, but Chloe just happily ignored it. She sat for a moment, then looked up at Kit, her face a little red.

"Um, w-what should I say?"

"Just tell them you're here and that everything's going to be okay." Kit smiled at her, and she just looked back down worriedly. Real helpful, Kit. I broke out of my uneasiness, and moved Chloe out of the way. They all started protesting, but I held up my hand to shush them.

"I know what to do. Just shut up and let me concentrate." I knew that what I was doing was extremely risky, and their way was probably more likely to be successful. But I was determined. I wasn't going to mess up. Not like last time.

"I'm not going to let it happen again." I whispered, and Derek stared at me. Then I gave myself over to my powers. I placed one hand on each of them, and felt my power flow. A jolt, a painful, gun shot of energy which caused me to scream, and then, I could feel everything. Every breath, every movement, every crack, even the flow of the mutating blood coursing through the two. I could even feel the tremors in the air. There was a slight ringing in my ears, but I had gotten used to that every time I used these powers. I delved deeper into their blood using my energy waves, feeling the mutations and the individual cells. I felt the werewolf cells fighting to take over, while the original, regular human cells fought for control of their home. I knew the only ways to relieve them from their painful transformations, was to either find a way to combine the cells, or kill off the werewolf cells. I knew that killing off the cells would automatically kill them, because they had already started their transformation, so my only choice was to combine them.

I searched for the problem between the two cells. It seemed that the wolf cell wanted to enter by force, and was battering itself against the human cell, whereas the human cell was just trying to defend itself. So I sent each cell a message. To the wolf, I told it to not be so forceful, and to the human cell, I said when the wolf cell becomes less aggressive, let it in. If they cooperated, it wouldn't be as painful. I knew eventually the two would've figured that out on their own, except that could take many painful hours of cracking and aggression, and the human cells hadn't even had time yet to form a truly aggressive attack on the wolf cell, and if I had sat back and let that happen, the pain for the two kids transforming would have escalated enormously, even to the point of suicide. Or the transformation would have just killed them itself. Because then the cells would be mutating and fighting at the same time, and the body wouldn't be able to take it, unless the people knew what was going on and how to remain calm and focus their way through the transformation. So then I focused on the hard part. Once the cells started cooperating, I'd have to be in constant connection to make sure things ran smoothly, otherwise even the littlest problem could cause instant death, and if one of them died while I was this deeply connected, I would too, and so would anything else connected to me. Which means all three of us would die instantly. Not good.

I pushed the thoughts away and used my powers to gently push the two cells together. In order to do this, I needed to directly force my energy into their bloodstreams, which wasn't going to be pleasant. So I pulled out for a second.

"Hold them down, and don't do anything until I'm finished! Regardless of what happens!" I didn't stay out long enough to see their reactions. I took a deep breath and dived back in. I built up power for a second, then began the extremely painstaking task of pushing the cells together. The second I touched the cells, I felt the excruciating pain.

I screamed. It felt like my body was being sliced apart. I felt my limbs throbbing and needles burning through my skin. I felt both of the kids next to me screaming in unison, but I knew in order to stop it, I had to get through this pain. The white hot burning and pulsing pain flashed over my skin, but I focused my self. I felt my powers trying to take me over in my vulnerable state, and I fought for control. When I had regained most of my control, I shot my energy at the cells, forcing them to slowly push together. The pain was almost unbearable, and I couldn't stop screaming, but I kept flowing the energy into the cells. I felt it surge down my arms into their bodies, and I struggled to keep it on target. Then I felt their bodies relax, the cells finally combined, and now, with one last jolt of energy, the transformation would stop, and they would be fine until their first regular change as a werewolf.

Of course, the pain in me still didn't stop, and if I didn't withdraw myself soon, the cells would start to travel up my link into my bloodstream, and I would become a werewolf. I prepared myself to give them the one last jolt that would secure their transformation.

"JULIE!" I froze. Venn. I felt the tremors in the air as he sprinted forward, and jumped, transforming into a wolf in midair. I also sensed Derek, as he moved in front of the little grouping of ours. Venn growled at him, and Derek just glared.

"What do you want?" Derek half growled. Venn just dodged around him and headed straight for me.

'_JULIE! DON'T DO IT! YOU'RE PUTTING TOO MUCH STRESS ON YOUR BODY, YOU WON'T MAKE IT!' _Venn was communicating telepathically with me. It was part of his powers as a half demon, before he was bitten by a werewolf. Though he had been bitten, he still kept his half demon powers, which was rare. I felt the energy tremble around me, and I knew he was right. But if I didn't do this, the two kids wouldn't make it either. Besides, I knew how to come back. They didn't.

'_I can come back, Venn. They can't. I'll finish up here, and see you in a couple hours. If I'm not back by then, then I'm sorry.'_

_'NO, LAST TIME YOU ALMOST DIDN'T COME BACK! I CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN AGAIN!'_

_'LAST TIME I HAD TO BRING YOU BACK TOO!' _ I felt his momentary pang of hurt.

'_I'm sorry, but I promised myself I'd never let last time happen again, and following your advice would cause that. I was stupid last time, and we both almost died. But this time I can do it right. I'm sorry. You're my brother, and much more than that, and I never meant to hurt you, but this is what I have to do. I'm sorry, and I love you. I'M SORRY!' _I let out a strangled cry, and looked upward, crying, wishing I didn't have to put him through this. But I did. I pushed one last jolt of energy into the cells, and the three of us screamed in unison again at the pain. I felt my body start to go numb. I sensed Venn change back (his half demon powers are able to conjure up some clothes for him), and I felt him pull me away from the two recovering werewolves. I opened my eyes, to see him staring down at me with his brilliant blue eyes.

"Why?" he said, tears streaming down his face. I smiled weakly at him, as I felt my soul leaving my body. As I felt mys spirit drift, I heard him howl in pain, and I wished I could comfort him, but he knew I was coming back. I was going to come back. I let myself float toward the spirit world, and felt my consciousness slip away.

**Chloe's POV (back when Kit was telling her what to say to Kari and Nate)**

"Just tell them you're here and that everything's going to be okay." That wasn't helpful at all. I looked down and tried to come up with something to say, when Julie pushed me out of her way. What? Everyone started to protest, but she held up her hand.

"I know what to do. Just shut up and let me concentrate." Why didn't she say that earlier? I stood back up and annoyingly Brent and Simon both grabbed my hands. But I let it slide. I was too worked up to really care about that at the moment. Though I thought I saw Derek bristle, but it disappeared quickly, so I wasn't sure if I had imagined it or not. Kit reached toward Julie.

"I don't think you should—" but she wasn't listening. She placed one of her hands on each of them, and closed her eyes. She mumbled something, and Derek gave her a look, but I don't think she saw it. I wonder what she said. She started glowing purple, and Beth fainted onto Brent, who jumped, and pulled her towards the back of the group, away from Julie and the two almost werewolves. And he was pulling me along with him. I shook my head and pulled back, but he kept pulling. Derek growled at him, and he jumped and let go. Simon held tightly onto my other hand, and was making circles with his thumb on the side of my palm. It was surprisingly comforting, and I smiled meekly at him. He smiled back, and continued with the circles. Then I reverted my attention back to Julie.

She was still glowing purple, but now so were Kari and Nate. They were still having seizures, and for a sec they stopped, and then all three of them screamed. It hurt, and everyone covered their ears. Derek made as if to pull her away (super sensitive ears, ouch), but Kit motioned for him to stop.

"She knows what she's doing. Just let her work." We all went back to staring. Brent (still holding a collapsed Beth) was shaking his head like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"What are you people?" He stared at us like freaks. It made me mad.

"We're people, just like you! We're just...different." he was still shaking his head.

"I know you are, but her, and now them, and that woman, and those guys with her, I just can't take this all at once." He shifted Beth so he was carrying her, and he walked toward the house. It looked like he was shaking. But I couldn't think about that now. Julie had stopped glowing for a for a sec and turned to look at us. Her eyes had returned to normal color, but their were cracks of purple pulsing around her pupils, trying to retake control.

"Hold them down, and don't do anything until I'm finished! Regardless of what happens!" Kit and Derek tried to say something, but she turned back and started glowing again. And the three erupted in another scream. It pierced through the silence, and we all out our hands on our ears again. Then, the glow coming off them turned red, and big waves of energy surged off them. All three started spazzing out in pain, and Kit motioned us forward to pin them down and we did.

Except for Julie, because when anyone tried to touch her, her energy burned us. So we held Nate and Kari down. They were gasping and shrieking in pain, but Julie was terrifyingly silent, and suddenly a jolt of energy shot out of her arms, and dripping and pulsing, and it streamed down her arms like slime onto Kari and Nate. It enveloped them, and we all backed away so as not to touch. It glowed a translucent reddish blue, with a purple fading in and out. Julie started screaming again, and she didn't stop, like she was in an endless pain. But Kari and Nate seemed to relax, like they weren't in pain anymore, like they were okay. They just looked like they were sleeping, while encased in glowing translucent goo. But Julie seemed to continue to spazz, and she looked like she was going to explode. Derek moved as if to pull her off, but then stopped and looked in the direction of the side yard, growling. We heard a guy screaming.

"JULIE!" A blonde guy came sprinting out of the bushes. He was tall and muscular, and his piercing, strangely luminescent gold eyes were filled with fear and concern. He lunged forward mid stride, and and transformed into a large black wolf, with a gold streak down his left side. Derek moved in front of us and glared at the wolf, while he growled up at Derek.

"What do you want?" the wolf looked at Derek one second longer, then bolted around him straight for Julie. His eyes turned purple, and he stopped in front of her. He made movements with his shoulders and growled and barked, and Julie shook her head. It seemed they were communicating. I was astonished. I hadn't known anyone could do that. Julie continued shaking her head, and made a forced nod with a jerk forward, almost as if she was yelling. The wolf shrunk back like he'd been slapped, but quickly recovered and came back barking. Julie bowed her head for a moment, then looked sharply upward and let out a strangled cry. Another jolt of energy shot down her arms and into Nate and Kari, and all three screamed again. Then Nate and Kari stopped and just laid there breathing, while Julie slumped backward. The wolf transformed again, and somehow clothes appeared on him. He surged forward, and pulled Julie away from the rest of us. He ran across the yard and held Julie bridal style in front of him. He looked down at her and said a single word.

"Why?" his voice cracked, and the word was filled with hurt and concern. They were both tearing silently. She smiled up at him, and I gasped as I felt her spirit leave her body. He stood there for a moment, then looked up to the sky and let out a howl. It was filled with agony, and broke my heart to hear. He then turned toward us, his eyes burning.

"Who are you and why have you done this to my sister?" He looked like he was going to kill us. Sister?

**Hey guys! Sorry I'm really late. Last week of school, and exams, and then I kinda forgot to save my document and lost half of this chapter, but I remember what I wanted to happen, so this is no different than what would've happened if I had saved it. Except it's late. It took me a long time to write, cause I just got a face book (I was just too lazy to get on earlier), and I've been chatting with my friends and my new boyfriend (I'm ecstatic!) a lot, so sorry for making you wait. And for those who are waiting for an update on the reckoning by me, I'm having some writers block. I know what I want to happen, just having some trouble getting there. So please be patient, and enjoy this chapter while you wait. And please review, its the highlight of my day (besides being with my bo) to read an awesome and detailed review that sent in by one of you awesome readers. Or just a nice comment (though the first idea is preferable) is appreciated. So please, read, review, and enjoy!**


	5. What I can really do

_**Darkest Powers: Edition 2 **_By 331

**Hey guys! OMG! I haven't updated in so long! you see, I went to Florida for most of the summer, and my stupid brother said he was going to bring my laptop to the car, but the idiot FORGOT, and I didn't realize until we were at the freakin airport, so I had no laptop or any computer at all for like 2 whole months! But I'm back now, so everything's okay. Here's the latest chapter! Hope you like it!(piece of advice: do not, under any circumstances, trust siblings with important electronic equipment, whether its REMEMBERING TO BRING THEM!, or just handling them, because things can and will go wrong)(and he promised me he would get them, so I didn't think about it!)(Stupid, stupid, stupid! slaps forehead repeatedly*)**

This is what happens after the Awakening by Kelley Armstrong (but not the Reckoning), after they had found Mr. Bae (Simon and Derek's dad), defeated the Edison Group and the Cabal, and gone back to their old lives.

I do not own anything and it all belongs to Kelley Armstrong. I am just using her characters and adding a few of my own.

**Previously:**

"_JULIE!" A blonde guy came sprinting out of the bushes. He lunged forward mid stride, and and transformed into a large black wolf, with a gold streak down his left side. The wolf looked at Derek one second longer, then bolted around him straight for Julie. His eyes turned purple, and he stopped in front of her. He made movements with his shoulders and growled and barked, and Julie shook her head. It seemed they were communicating. Julie slumped backward. The wolf transformed again, surged forward, and pulled Julie away from the rest of us. He ran across the yard and held her bridal style in front of him. He looked down at her and said a single word._

"_Why?" She smiled up at him, and I gasped as I felt her spirit leave her body. He stood there for a moment, then turned toward us, his eyes burning._

"_Who are you and why have you done this to my sister?" He looked like he was going to kill us. Sister?_

**Chloe's POV**

Whoa whoa whoa. Back up a second. Sister? We were all staring open-mouthed. The blonde guy growled, and took a step toward us. Derek growled right back.

"I asked you a question. Answer me!" he snarled. Derek's eyes had turned to ice.

"Why should we tell you? You're the one who came barging in and interrupted us!" the blonde guy snarled.

"Interrupted? Interrupted what? You trying to kill my sister?" He and Derek looked like they were about to start an all out brawl. I put a hand on Derek's shoulder, and he relaxed, but only slightly. I turned toward blondie.

"So you're Julie's brother?"

"I thought I made it clear before, but I guess saying she's my sister doesn't confirm sibling-hood anymore." He glared at me. "But that still doesn't clarify what the fuck you're doing at my house with my sister in the first place! Who the hell are you?"

"We're supernaturals, we came here with Kit because we needed a place to sleep after driving through the night running from a crazy she -devil and psycho werewolves." he relaxed a bit. Derek was still on edge, Kit and Aunt Lauren were inspecting Kari and Nate, Simon was beside Derek, and Tori looked like she was drooling at blondie.

"We didn't do anything to Julie, she did that to herself. She was just nice enough to let us in. When Kari and Nate started Changing, she said she knew what to do, we didn't know she would be hurting herself." Derek said, and blondie nodded. He shifted Julie in his arms and the anger in his eyes evaporated.

"I'm Venn. Sorry about the yelling, but ever since the first time this happened, and then the second, when everything seemed to go wrong, my family and I get worried about Julie. We don't know what will happen, sometime she might not be able to come back, and we don't know what we'd do if we lost her, so we get a little protective." A little? Everyone was staring confusedly at him. Might not come back? What was that about?

He smiled.

"Anyway, maybe we should get them inside, they'll need to rest, I sure did when she did it to me. I slept for 5 days. And I need to get Julie back up to her roof thingy, or she'll be mad at me for not doing this as we planned. Come on!" He turned toward the house and walked briskly over to the slider. All of us looked lost, but we followed him inside, Derek carrying Kari and Simon and Kit carrying Nate. The were both out cold, and we left them both on the bed in the guest room. We followed Venn upstairs and he told us to wait in the family room while he took care of Julie. We found Brent in there watching TV with Beth unconscious on the couch. I was still mad at him for how he talked about supernaturals, but I held my tongue. He still didn't understand the whole story yet. I sat down in the leather chair, and Tori sat down at the foot of the couch next to Beth. Brent occupied the lazy-boy, so the other four sat at the kitchen table. Brent looked up expectantly, after turning off the TV.

"So do I get an explanation now or do I have to wait another eon?" Derek and Simon both frowned at him, but Kit held up his hand.

"We will tell you everything, as soon as Julie and Venn's parents get here. For now just be patient." Brent scowled and grumbled something unintelligible to my ears, but Derek made as if to go slap him. Simon put a hand on his shoulder and Derek slowly lowered himself back into his chair. Venn walked back in.

"My parents will get here shortly. They needed to find a place where they could teleport safely without being seen."

"They can teleport?" Tori gasped. We all had similar looks. Aaron nodded.

"Well, my mom can, my dad has a different power, but my mom can teleport up to 7 people at a time. Its just that she needs a lot of concentration and a secure area. Sh—" he was interrupted by a loud crack, that came from the front hall. We all jumped up and darted in there. A red haired slim woman and a light brown haired tall man were entangled on the tile floor, rubbing an arm or head as if in pain.

"I told you, James, if we had gone to a more secured spot I could have gotten us here standing up, but noooooo, we had to do it in an alley next to an intersection! This is what happens when it's hard to concentrate!"

"Well, sorry, I thought maybe our children's lives were more important than feeling comfortable, but I guess I was wrong! God, Ara, I thought maybe you knew how to use your powers!"

"Well maybe next time you can teleport us here, and you can do it standing up!" They were standing now, and Ara's blazing hair was shockingly straight, with a few wisps sliding in front of her eyes as she yelled. James was tall with his light brown hair messy and tangled, but still looking like he just walked off the runway. They seemed too young to have two teenage children, but maybe they had them early. Her eyes were a light green, while his were a soft chocolate. They didn't notice us and continued to argue. Venn tried to get their attention.

"Mom, Dad, hello? ARA, JAMES!" They continued their spat.

"At least my powers are useful! It would've taken us hours to get home otherwise!"

"What, apparently mine are worth nothing? Don't you think if I could, I would use them to help us? But apparently, being a regular old fire half-demon doesn't equate to being a telekinetic one with the power to teleport. I'm sorry you married such a useless person!" Her eyes softened and her anger faded.

"You're not useless, you're always good for when I'm cold and you can heat up soup in like 3 seconds!" He rolled his eyes and smiled sadly.

"Yeah, like that will help. But at least I can do it standing up." She playfully punched his arm.

"I was complimenting you! A little gratitude from the useless guy please."

"Oh I feel so much better knowing I can make soup! My life's goal has been reached, I am all powerful, knowing that one day my soup will save the lives of millions. I feel so much better now." He put his arms around her waist.

"Okay, king of soup, deflate your big head and come back down to your wife, she needs your soup more than ever, because she loves it so much." Then they proceeded to make out. Venn cleared his throat and they jumped apart.

"Hi guys. Its me, you're-totally put off from soup for the rest of his life-son, who found his sister collapsed on the lawn and a bunch of people he didn't know in his house. But I guess if you think that making out is a better use of your time go ahead, don't mind me, freaking out over here as I vomit in a corner out of nervousness. And that I had soup for lunch." His parents chuckled and then became serious.

"Okay, so we heard Kit was here. Whats all this about?" James had spotted Kit by the archway to the dining room. Kit smiled.

"Nothing immediately dangerous, but we do have things to talk about." James nodded. Ara was looking around the room.

"Venn, where's your sister?" Venn frowned.

"Its...um, well...that thing she does happened again. But everything's fine, I put her body up in the loft house, and no one's injured. She'll most likely be back in a couple of hours." James had paled, and Ara had turned white and started hyperventilating. James calmed her and led her into the family room and set her down on the couch, which had been recently vacated by Beth as she had woken up upon their arrival. Brent started pacing on the carpet in the middle of the room.

"Okay, everyone's here, can you please tell me what the hell is going on?" Beth nodded in agreement with him, and Kit sighed. Venn and his parents seemed confused at Brent's actions, but looked at Kit to start the explanation. Once everyone was seated Kit took a deep breath.

"I would have liked Julie, Nate, and Kari to be here, but we can relay this to them later, I've made you wait long enough. Venn, Ara, James," they nodded in response, "Brent, Kari, Beth and Nate aren't supernaturals, so this will take a bit longer than expected. Even if Kari and Nate are now werewolves, they still don't understand." Brent looked confused and angry.

"What's with all this 'supernatural' crap? Give me the truth right now!" Kit sighed, and Derek smirked. I watched intently. Kit began again.

"Brent, we haven't been giving you crap. We are supernaturals. We have powers, and we use them to do amazing things." Brent laughed.

"Yeah, okay, and I'm a fairy, Beth can shoot lightning, and Chloe can see dead people. Sure." Beth turned white, and I gasped.

"How do you know that? I never told you!" Brent was taken aback.

"You actually believe this shit Chloe? You're smarter than that! And you can't see dead people, you're eyes were just playing tricks on you." I shook my head. Kit continued before I could say anything else.

"She's telling the truth Brent. She can see dead people, she's a necromancer. I'm a sorcerer, and so is my son, Simon. My other son, Derek, is a werewolf, and now, because of the two men who attacked you the other night, Nate and Kari are too. My daughter, Tori," She flinched when he said that, she still wasn't used to it yet, "is a witch. Lauren here has some of the powers of a shaman, but not all, Ara and James are both half demons, and Venn's another werewolf. I do not know what Julie is yet, but she does have extraordinary powers." Brent was shaking his head.

"Stop lying to me! There's no such thing as supernaturals. If there were, then why doesn't anybody know about these 'powers'?" Kit put his hand on his forehead, frustrated.

"We supernaturals keep our world a secret, so we aren't hunted and caged and tested on like animals."

"Not that that hasn't happened." Simon was frowning with a disgusted look in his eye. I shuddered, remembering the Edison Group and the Cabals. Hopefully, they were gone now, and we wouldn't have to worry about them trying to experiment on us or kill us anymore. Brent was still angry.

"Fine, if you won't tell me the truth, then I'm leaving, and so are Chloe and Beth. You people are lying creeps who kidnap kids. I'm out." he made a move towards the door, but neither Beth nor I followed. He gestured toward us.

"C'mon. Chloe, Beth we're leaving." Beth shook her head, and I was openly glaring at him now, for being incredibly stupid.

"What do you think I was doing for the last 2 months, Brent? **(A:N/ Chillin' in Florida! Without a laptop! Stupid brother!)** being helped through my emotionally unstable hallucinatory state by doctors in an insane asylum? That wouldn't take 2 months unless I was really crazy, and I'm not! I was on the run from psycho scientists trying to kill me and my friends after labeling us as their failed experiments after they messed with our genes and made our powers go crazy! I don't just see dead people, I talk to them, get attacked by them, and raise them in my sleep! I've even set free a demi-demon and been attacked by a full one!" Derek, Kit, Simon, and Lauren gasped. Whoops, I forgot I never told them what happened when we took down the Edison Group headquarters.

"You met a demon?" Lauren shrieked. Derek rushed over and put his hands on my shoulders.

"You released a demi-demon? What the hell were you thinking?" I pushed his arms away.

"I was trying to save us and not get killed, if I remember correctly. I released the demi-demon because she said she would help and it would severely hurt the Edison Group because they were using her powers to do some of their experiments. They thought the building was built over ley lines, but really Samuel Lyle had her spirit trapped to it to give it power. He just never told them. The demon came when I released the demi-demon, and because one of the guards had been killed by Diane Enright to frame Tori, it was able to take over his body. Nothing really happened after that besides them talking, and then the two of them leaving and the building collapsing with the lack of power, so I was fine." Derek put his hands back on my shoulders and I tried to push them off he held on.

"That was incredibly stupid, you could've been killed! Or you could've unleashed a demon into the world! Do you know what that could do?"

"Do you, Derek, because you seem pretty informed on a subject that doesn't concern you, one that I specialize in! Please, enlighten me, because apparently my knowledge of demons is too inadequate for you." He frowned, and when he didn't say anything I continued.

"Yes, I knew perfectly well what could happen, but I also knew what would happen if we were unsuccessful in defeating the Edison Group. We'd probably all die. But I did release the demi-demon, and I did meet a full demon, and I was fine, and we won! We WON, Derek! Everything turned out fine!"

"But what if it hadn't Chloe? Do you know how many people could have died or been seriously injured? What if something had happened?"

"But nothing happened!"

"But what if it did?"

"But it didn't! And right now, that's all that matters Derek. And I'd appreciate it if you'd let go of my shoulders, I'm losing circulation in my arms." Derek didn't move, and he looked like he was about to say something. Simon came up behind him and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Bro, let go," Derek seemed to change his mind, and let go. The look in eyes said that this conversation wasn't over, but I turned away. Brent was glaring at Derek. It seemed like old times again, Derek all up in my face because one little misunderstanding, or one stupid mistake that I made. And I thought we had gotten over that. Venn and his parents were staring at me. I sat down quickly, avoiding eye contact. It was a little unnerving to be stared at. Kit waited until Derek and Simon were seated before continuing.

"Anyway, Brent, Beth, there are such things as supernaturals. The woman who attacked you the other night, Aerona, she was a supernatural, a witch I believe, and Liam and Ramon, the men, were werewolves. They were after Chloe, and still are, and the seem to have figured out that in order to get to her, they have to go through us, so she picked the ones closest to her. First us, and then the four of you. Until she is defeated, we will have to keep running, and so will you, because you won't be safe unless she is gone."

"And why should I believe any of you? For all I know I could be dreaming!"

"Do you really think you're dreaming?" Brent frowned, and Kit continued.

"Kari and Nate were bitten by Liam and Ramon, so they've become werewolves, and Derek and Venn will have to help them through it. Brent, Beth, I know this doesn't sound that convincing, but we are supernaturals. And you're in danger. Do you believe us?" Brent seemed to be contemplating, and Beth just seemed to shake slightly.

"Prove it." We all looked at Brent.

"Really? Two people teleporting, getting attacked by werewolves and a witch, and seeing Julie's performance outside wasn't enough for you?" Tori smirked, and mumbled something like 'he really is and idiot'. Derek laughed, and me and Simon chuckled. Brent was dead serious. Kit shrugged.

"Fine, what do you want to see?" Brent thought for a second.

"I want to see Chloe raise the dead." I gasped, and started freaking out. I couldn't force spirits back into their rotting corpses just to prove a point, it would just be cruel. I couldn't.

"NO!" Derek, Simon, Aunt Lauren and I all shouted. Brent smirked.

"Guess there's no such thing as supernaturals then." I snarled. Literally snarled, and I stopped, surprised at myself.

"I'm not going to shove spirits back into their skeletons just for fun! That's just horrible!" Kit nodded.

"Anything else?" Brent shook his head.

"That's the only thing that would get me to believe," I pleaded with Kit through my eyes, but I knew it wouldn't work. I swallowed my feelings, and my face hardened.

"Fine, I'll raise some corpses," I glared at Brent, and he looked genuinely surprised. Derek jumped up.

"No Chloe! With the amount of power you have, you'll end up raising an entire cemetery! Its too dangerous. Why can't we just have Tori shoot a fireball at his face? Or even better..." his eyes traveled down Brent, and I realized what he was thinking. I slapped his shoulder.

"Derek! No, I'll raise the corpses. But I don't sense any bodies or dead animals around here. Is there anywhere close with dead bodies?" We looked at Venn and his parents. Ara frowned.

"The only place I could think of that's not a cemetery is the old burial grounds that is now woodland. It was where the Indians buried their dead, but it's been overgrown with trees and plants. Now its just part of the woods. We can take you there if you like." I nodded.

"Perfect. We'll go there," Derek frowned.

"No, you are not doing this. It's not safe." I scowled.

"Since when did you become my wife, Derek?" He stepped back like he'd been slapped. I instantly regretted my words. Tori smiled at me.

"Finally, the damsel stands up to the big bad wolf. Look out, wolf boy, blondie has a mind of her own. And apparently a new found mouth to match." I frowned. I turned to Ara.

"When can we go?"

"As soon as the others wake up, we're not leaving them here alone." Kit said. Venn nodded.

"I'm not leaving Julie here alone. Too many things could go wrong. We stay here until everyone's conscious." After that, we were left to do whatever until the others woke up. Brent and Simon both tried to talk to me, but I ignored Brent and told Simon I wasn't in the mood to talk. Or do whatever he had in mind, which I assumed was probably making out. I went out on the back deck, and saw a ladder hanging down from the roof. I assumed it led to the 'loft house' Venn had been talking about.

I climbed up the ladder and saw a little Venn in there, looking after Julie. He was such a nice guy, looking after his sister like that. I walked over to the other end of the roof, so not as to intrude upon his moment with her. I sat down on the edge, watched the clouds and just thought.

I was going to have to deal with the guys sooner or later, and I was not looking forward to it. Nate would probably come looking for me as soon as he woke up, and start being all territorial again. Ugh. He was a nice guy, and I liked him, but after what Julie had said, I think I had lost all feelings for him. Simon was nice, and he definitely cared for me, but he was just as territorial as Nate, and Julie had said the same thing about him too. But then there was Brent and Derek. With them, I was so confused.

After today, I know Derek didn't even like me, let alone love me, and Brent was just so annoying and jerk-ish, I just didn't really like being around him. Yeah, I bet if we were alone and not in the middle of a teenage girl's fantasy book, I bet we could carry on a friendly conversation, like we used to during class before I knew about my powers. Uggghhh! Why do boys have to be so confusing! Maybe I should just dump them all and go out with Venn! It be a hell of a lot easier!

I looked back over at the loft house. Venn was still gazing a Julie's lifeless figure. I bet he'd probably go out with his sister if he could, than go out with me. Sigh, then again, if he was interested in me, I'd probably lose all interest in him.

I turned back to the clouds, and laid back against the shingles. I had much bigger problems than boys right now. For starters, I was going to have to force innocent souls back into their decaying bodies later today. Something to look forward to. And there was Aerona, with Liam and Ramon, out there searching for us, because of me. And Nate and Kari, becoming werewolves, because they had been worried about me. And, if my stroke of luck wore off tonight, I'd have to worry about Aerona in my dreams, torturing me so that I got more rest when I was awake than when I was asleep. I really didn't need more nightmares. I barely got enough sleep as it was. I was so lost in thought I didn't hear him come up behind me. Of course, its not like I ever heard him anyway.

"Chloe." I jumped, but then settled back onto the shingles.

"Go away Derek," He bent his head over into my line of vision. He was standing behind me.

"I need to talk to you,"

"No shit, Sherlock, but not now. I just want to be alone." He didn't move, just kept staring down at me. I sighed.

"Fine, what do you want?"

"You shouldn't go to the burial grounds later. It's to dangerous for you. You could get hurt." I frowned.

"If that's all you came to say, you can either go back down the ladder, or walk in front of me and I'll kick you off the roof. I'm old enough to take care of myself Derek." I could almost hear him scowl.

"That's not what I meant. I know you can take care of yourself. I just don't want you to lose control with all those bodies. You could hurt yourself." My angered dimmed a bit.

"I appreciate your concern, but I've been practicing with you for two months. I think I'm controlled enough to raise a body without releasing an army of the dead."

"That doesn't mean it won't happen." I scowled.

"Thanks for the support." He chuckled, and sat down next to me.

"Seriously, you've only had you're powers for two months, do you really think that's enough time to have mastered them?" I shook my head.

"I never said I mastered them. I know there's a lot I still don't know about my powers, like how far I can go, how much I can do, what's too much, and when to stop before it gets really bad, but I do know enough to keep myself from raising the entire burial ground." Derek nodded, and didn't say anything more. We just sat there, looking at the clouds for a while.

"Its not that I don't believe you could do it, I just don't want you to get hurt. Because if you did, I don't know what I would do. I'm sorry I yelled at you. I don't mean to be harsh all the time, but its how I am. I like you, Chloe, and I don't want you to get hurt."

I felt my cheeks get hot, and that unknown feeling in my stomach made a return trip. I looked up to see his face, but he was already gone. I looked over towards the ladder, and I saw his green eyes staring at me. There was something there I hadn't seen before, and I felt my face heat up. I bet I was beat red. I looked away, my stomach all fuzzy. When I turned back, he was gone.

I was in the family room watching TV with Tori and Beth, when Julie walked back in. we all jumped up. It felt like we were reuniting with an old friend.

"Julie!" I said, and the three of us hugged her. Venn and Simon walked in behind. I noticed how Venn's eyes never left Julie's face. She pushed us back gently.

"Okay, okay, off the Julie. Give me some space, I've been out for at least 3 hours, I want to be able to breath." We backed up a bit.

"What happened while I was out?" We filled her in, and she was so excited when she heard I would be raising corpses.

"Oh My GOD! I can't wait!" Her eyes turned purple, and Beth, Tori, and Simon all paled, like they thought she was going to have another freaky power thingy again. But she was just reading auras.

"But it seems you aren't that excited. Why not? You can raise dead people! You could totally freak people out on Halloween!" I laughed.

"Its not that cool, plus I just don't think shoving innocent people back into their corpses after they've found peace in the afterlife is exciting." She smiled sadly.

"I see. That isn't fair to the souls who've found peace, and you hate causing them pain, but it can't be helped. You do it unconsciously, and you hate it. But its the power you have, and you should know that even though you can take them out of peace, you can always put them back." We all stared at her. Except Venn, he was probably used to her by now. This girl had so many different sides to her personality it was hard to keep track. She laughed at our faces.

"You guys look so funny. I wish I had a camera. Oh wait, I do!" and she snapped our pictures with her phone before we'd realized what was going on. Tori demanded she delete hers, but Julie laughed maniacally as she connected to Facebook. Tori then proceeded to chase her. Soon after, Nate and Kari came up the stairs. Nate immediately moved in my direction, and I sighed as he put his arm around my waist. Kari and Beth immediately started talking with Julie and Tori about clothes (Julie had already succeeded in posting the pictures on Facebook, so after hitting her with a pillow a couple of times, there was really no point in getting her to delete them. They were out there and they couldn't get them back, so Tori settled down quick), but Julie caught my eye, and I told Nate I needed to talk to Julie for a sec. She walked with me into the hall.

"You need to dump him. He's too clingy, and you already know he's a crush. It'll hurt him a bit, but he'll get over it. He already has his eye on two other girls, and he's only staying with you because all the others want you and he feels possessive. Oh, and and tell him I'd rather date my worst nightmare than go out with him, and I fully support you clipping off the loose ends in your life. That way, he'll stay away from me." I stared at her, open mouthed. But she had a point. But I was still nervous.

"What do I say?" She smacked her palm to her forehead. Then she signaled to Nate, and he came out into the hallway. He tried to put his arms around my waist, but I pushed him off. I looked at Julie, but she just gestured to Nate, saying 'do it already, get it over with. I took a deep breath, and... nothing. She sighed and said.

"She doesn't want to date you anymore, get over it, and if you put your slimy little paws on me you'd have wished you had died and gone to hell, because when I'm done with you, you won't even have the guts to look at a girl again, let alone go out with one. So fuck off. And have a nice day, because Chloe still wants to be friends." She smiled and walked off toward Venn, who was having a heated argument with Simon about something stupid and guyish. Nate looked crushed. I smiled sadly at him.

"I'm sorry, but I just don't like you like that, but we can still be friends, right?" he looked down at the floor, not meeting my eyes. He mumbled a 'sure', and walked off. Great, now he hates me. But now I didn't have deal with his uncomfortable territoriality. Yay selfish happiness! whoa, where'd that thought come from? I looked around, and saw Ara smiling at me. She was so much like her daughter. Except she could read minds. Great. I looked away, and saw Derek chuckling. I smiled, and he smiled back, a rarity for Derek. I was so dumbfounded, I didn't see Brent walk up behind me. All I noticed was Derek's smile fading into a glare he aimed over my shoulder.

"So now you're single, eh?" I jumped, and I found Brent leaning over my shoulder.

"Don't go getting any ideas, I have a mind of my own thank you, and I decide who I date and who I don't."

"Oooo, Feisty." I grimaced, he'd made it sound totally dirty. Kit walked in, saving me from a response.

"Okay, now that everyone's awake, we can head to the burial ground." I swallowed. Oh joy.

When we arrived, we were just in the middles of the woods, except there were two stone markers, and they marked the entrance to a clearer than the surrounding woods area, but not by much, area where I assumed the bodies where. The back of my neck tingled, and my head throbbed, and I knew there were bodies. I hoped I was in control. Ara led us over to the left side of the clearing.

"Okay then, prove it to me you can raise the dead." Brent sounded like a total jerk. The others glared at him, and so did I. But I swallowed my annoyance, and sat down, calming myself. I focused on one of the bodies. I imagined pulling its spirit out and pushing it back into its body. I hoped I had pulled a mean one, because I didn't want to cause pain to the innocent. I opened one eye, but nothing had happened. I felt my amulet getting warmer against my skin, so I knew I was doing something right. I ramped it up a bit. I felt the spirit digging up through the dirt, working hard to get its decaying bones to move through the earth. But it didn't seem to be making much progress so I pushed a little harder.

Immediately, I knew something was wrong.

_Hello child._ The second I heard her voice, my blood turned to ice.  
Aerona. Suddenly, about 20 corpses burst out of the ground, clawing and hissing. A couple latched onto Tori's and Kari's and Beth's legs, and they screamed. I tried to stop it, but I couldn't.

My body had the sudden uncontrollable urge to push harder, and I couldn't fight it. All the corpses screamed, and so did I. The last thing I saw, before I blacked out, was the deep red glow coming from the eye sockets of a skull, that was slowly being pulled along the ground by decaying arms. The last thing I heard, was

"CHLOE!" Derek. Help me.


	6. Voting Time!

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

Hey guys! Yes, I hate this too. Author's notes without a chapter are the bane of my existence. But I need to clarify something. And state something too. I'll go with the statement first. I will probably not get out a chapter this weekend (, no matter how much you beg and scream and send me encouraging PM's. Bcuz I have family coming over, and my parents will smite me if the find me on the computer with company here. So, you being my awesome readers (see? I'm not all disappointing today.), I need your opinions on something. I know you guys love both my stories, but what I want to know is which one is more of a priority right now. Its been hard for me to write bcuz I've been so busy, and when I do find time to write, I don't know which one to write, and while I try to write one I keep thinking about the other one and whether I should update it or stick to this one. Its been so confusing. So, I'm hoping you guys out there can help me out. Should I update _**The Reckoning by me**_ or _**Return to Normal?**_? And if _**Return to Normal?**_ is preferred, should I still continue writing _**The Reckoning by me**_? Or vice versa? PLZ VOTE! HELP ME! FOR THE DARKEST POWERS CHILDREN!

Here are the choices:

Just _**The Reckoning by me **_(stop writing _**RTN**_)

Just _**Return to Normal? **_(stop writing _**RBM**_)

Update_** RBM**_ first, and **_RTN_** later

Update _**RTN **_first, and**_ RBM _**later

_**RTN**_!****I don't care what you do with _**RBM**_!

_**RBM**_! I don't care what you do with **_RTN_**!

**UPDATE BOTH AT THE SAME TIME! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!** (I seriously suggest not picking this one, bcuz it means a lot of work for me, but if you seriously think this way, its available)(though I would prefer to have to write only one chapter bcuz my school started wed this week, and I already I have crappy homework)

VOOOOTTTTTEEE! PLZ VOTE!

xoxoxo - _**331**_ a.k.a. Julie - oxoxox


	7. Nevaiyis

_**Darkest Powers: Edition 2 **_By FutureAnimeArtist331

**Hey Peoples! I'm really really really really really sorry for taking this long! But I finally got this done! So here's RTN, for your enjoyment! I hope I can keep writing stories forever, and maybe someday if I don't become an animated TV show producer/graphic designer, I'll write and illustrate my own books and or manga! If anyone has a cool idea for more plot twists, plz plz plz plz plz post it in your review! I have a lot, but inspiration can come from the weirdest places, but I'd rather get mine from somewhere remotely normal! Hugs and kisses!oxoxoxox XD READ AND REVIEW! AND DON'T FORGET TO ENJOY!**

**P.S. I changed Aaron's name to Venn, because I'm having a fight with the asshole I named him after (its one of those "I'll never forgive you things") So, now, his name's Venn. And I changed my screen name! Its much less kiddy sounding now! PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ REVIEW! AND ENJOY! BUT MOSTLY REVIEW! XD**

This is what happens after the Awakening by Kelley Armstrong (but not the Reckoning), after they had found Mr. Bae (Simon and Derek's dad), defeated the Edison Group and the Cabal, and gone back to their old lives.

I do not own anything and it all belongs to Kelley Armstrong. I am just using her characters and adding a few of my own.

**Julie's POV**

_OMG! Chloe looks so cool when she concentrates all hard! _was what was going through my head at the burial ground. Brent was being an ass fucker, as usual, Derek was pacing, Nate was looking all dejected in a corner, Beth, Kari and Tori were huddled together, watching in awe (well, Tori's was more of a proud-ish type of thing. AWWWWWWWWWW! SHE DOES CARE!), Kit was emotionless, Simon mirrored his father's expression (in a short-blonde-boy sorta way), Lauren looked anxious, and Mom and Dad **(A:N/ when I'm in Julie's POV, and if I ever do a Venn POV, Ara and James are going to be Mom and Dad)** expectant looking. Venn was hovering behind me, almost as anxious as Derek, probably something to do with pack stuff. Geesh, why couldn't they be as calm as Kari and Nate? Maybe their wolf senses hadn't come in yet.

Chloe opened one eye, and looked around expectantly, but nothing happened. She closed her eyes again, and seemed to amp it up a bit. I started tapping my foot, where were all the dead people? Venn put his hand on my shoulder, and motioned for me to stop tapping my foot. What, so he could hover and Derek could pace, but I'm not allowed to tap my foot? What's up with that? Suddenly, Chloe stiffened, and about half a second later, so did all four werewolves (maybe danger speeds up the growing process?). About a second passed, and the about 20 corpses burst from the ground, screeching like banshees (which may or may not exist).

All the girls cept' me and my mom started to scream, and Nate passed out.

"What the fuck—!" Brent yelled as a corpse started crawling up his leg.

"CHLOE!" Derek was bending over her, but he was blasted back by a wave of energy. Chloe stood up stiffly, and she opened her eyes.

But they weren't her eyes. They were an golden amber color with black slitted pupils, and were slightly pulsing. She opened her mouth, and said three small words. But they were enough to turn my blood to ice.

"_**I found you.**_"

I'd never heard the voice before, but I immediately knew who it was. I just knew.

Aerona.

She smiled creepily, straight at me. And then all I could see was Venn's shirt.

"What 're yo―!" but my cry was immediately cut off by his collar bone in my face. He forcibly pushed me backwards about 10 ft, and then stood in a defensive crouch in front of me. Back in the clearing, Derek was shouting at Chloe/Aerona.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF CHLOE!" he charged straight at her, but she just smiled, and with a wave of her hand, _a spike rose up out of the ground and hit him straight in the face!_ My mind was screaming_ What the HELL? I've never seen that before, and I'm the queen of weird!_ It was then I noticed the 20 formerly screeching corpses who were slowly crawling themselves toward the rest of the group. Then Kit, James, Tori and Simon started immediately throwing spells or fireballs at her, but she just deflected them with a wave of her hands. I ran around from behind Venn, but he grabbed my arm.

"Let me go! We have to help them!" I screamed at him, trying to wrench my arm from his grasp. He snarled at me.

"NO! You'll get hurt!" I snarled right back.

"YOU'LL BE THE ONE TO GET HURT IF YOU DON'T LET GO RIGHT NO―!" Right then my voice was cut off, and I probably would've choked if I'd been able to move.

"Now, now, is that anyway to speak to your brother?" I swore I felt the temperature drop at least 50 degrees. I heard a small tinkling laugh, that which coming from any other voice would've sounded innocent and sweet, but from this one it just sounded wrong.

I felt my frozen body being turned, and a pair of golden eyes with slits for pupils came into my line of sight.

"There, all better now that everyone can see me! Well, everyone that counts anyway." I scanned the scene in front of me, and I almost stopped breathing. All the others were unconscious save Kit, Simon, Mom, Tori, Beth, Derek, Venn (I assumed, as he was now behind me) and myself. And, of course, _**her**_. The conscious ones were frozen like Venn and myself, in what I assumed was a freakishly strong binding spell, though Derek was now in his wolf form, and the others who weren't were being held to the ground by a bunch of rotting corpses, some still crawling there way up from the ground. My eyes snapped back to _**her**_ as she let loose another peal of tinkling laughter.

"I guess I should tell you why I'm here, but that wouldn't be any fun now would it?" her gaze traveled over all of us, a smirk spreading across Chloe's face. "Don't look so mad. If I'd wanted to hurt you I would've done so already. Well," a small frown appeared on her face, and so did a crinkle between her eyebrows, "if I'd wanted to kill you I'd have done so already, the hurting I can't really control. But anyway, onto business." She plopped herself down onto a nearby stump, and one of the corpses that weren't holding the unconscious people to the ground crawled itself over. To my disgust, she began to affectionately pet its skull like it was a kitten or something equally cute. I mentally gagged. _What is wrong with this chic?_ I thought. Her face jerked up to meet mine, seemingly taken aback.

"Why, nothing is wrong with me dear. It's the world that unjustly thinks of corpse slaves as evil and disgusting and wrong. If you do it correctly, you don't even have to put real souls in the bodies, but no one ever thinks long enough to come up with that. They just think it impossible and move on to the real thing. Besides, artificial souls are much more affectionate and compliant to their master. Its more like having a bunch of lethal rotting puppies under your control. Isn't that right, you cute little thing?" If that thing had had a tail, it would've been wagging nonstop, which gave me a totally disgusting image that will probably scar me for the rest of my life, and would have if I hadn't been too distracted with the thought that she had just _read my mind_. Then again, Venn could do it, but I seriously didn't want some creepy necro/witch bitch reading my thoughts. She stopped petting the creature and turned back to us, sighing.

"I might as well unfreeze your mouths, otherwise I won't get anything done." She snapped, and suddenly those of us who were awake could move our heads again. I immediately finished choking on my unsaid words from earlier.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT FREAK WOMAN!" I registered Simon's voice, but only saw the reaction on _**her **_face.

"Freak woman? Young man, I am most certainly not a freak woman! I have no idea where you got that from, but I do not tolerate insults from an incompetent sorcerer! Another crack and I will bind your mouth again!" Her amber eyes had clouded and tinged red, fury scrunching up Chloe's facial features. She no longer seem like a little girl from a horror story, now she was more attuned to being a shrewd, crazed madwoman, the kind that is all proper until she slices your head in two with a butcher knife. It was almost like Simon had magically just stuck a stick up her ass. Simon himself snarled, but it was Kit who answered.

"You did not answer his question. What is it that you want with Chloe?" his tone suggested murder, though that seemed highly unlikely in his current state. She smiled, back to being the little girl demon. Though the eyes looked particularly odd on Chloe's innocent face. I internally grimaced at the thought of what Chloe must be feeling at about that moment. Having _that_ in control of your body. I shuddered. _Okay, ew. _Thankfully the creeper wasn't paying attention to my thoughts at the moment. She gazed steadily back at Kit.

"Why, haven't you figured it out? I mean, since you had run in with my sister, I assumed you would know what was going on." Everyone's face was now a question mark. I couldn't recall any confrontations with any other necro/witch bitch other than her.

"Your sister?" She looked down her nose at me, and I almost thought she was going to stick out her tongue.

"Honestly, I though you humans were smart. My sister, Aerona."

…...**WHAT? **

Tori was the first person to find her vocal chords again.

"You mean you _**aren't**_ Aerona?" _**She**_ threw back Chloe's head and laughed.

"Of course not! How could you possibly mistake me for that wretch of a life form? She probably would have blown something up by now, or made several of you bleed. I swear, that girl has no manners whatsoever!" _And you think binding us or knocking us unconscious after possessing our friend __**is**_ _manners?_ She gave me a pointed look, frowning.

"I am sorry for the inconvenience, but I was having an atrocious time finding you, and when this amazingly strong little necromancer mix summoned up her powers, I just couldn't resist, even if possession is terribly rude." She looked down at herself, or rather, Chloe. "I'm frightfully sorry, dear, but it was so much easier to do it like this than finding you myself. Saves so much time and energy." Derek barked, and she looked up at him, amber eyes curious as she tilted her head.

"But anyway, I might as well introduce myself. I am Azara, also known as the Scarlet Demon, the Pourer of Life, and Sister of Heart. Of course, I'm only in demon form at the moment, my real form is something mortals have not seen on this earth for many a millenia. My sister, Aerona, is also known as the Violet Demon, the Possessor of Souls, and Sister of Battle. We had many more sisters, but they were killed. We originated some time ago, but of course, back then, mortals thought most of us were men, which is quite annoying, mind you, for we are most certainly **not** men. Only a certain few who chose to show themselves to your race directly were known to be women, but that choice led to their downfall, and my family had no part in that stupidity. There are male demons who have similar power, who might have influenced that mistake, but they are not of the same species, and therefore not one of what your people would call gods, even if we are really not actually divine, in a sense. The only ones of us left are myself and my blood-thirsty sister, and few of our half-blooded offspring. And of course, other families, but I don't keep much track of those who I do not interact with regularly." She paused in her mini speech to take a breath, in which Venn inserted his two cents.

"That's...freakish, and all, but what the hell does it have to do with us?" She did stick out her tongue at this, giving herself the aura of a six year old again, albeit a creepy one.

"I was getting to that! My purpose for seeking you out is to recruit you to my army."

…...again, **WHAT?**

"I'm only interested in a certain few of you, but any others may come if they wish. It was terribly lucky that young Chloe here summoned her powers, or I never would have found you at all. Necromancy such as hers has a powerful draw to many types of beings, especially with her amount of it. She's lucky it hasn't upright and killed her by now with the amount of power her body's channeling. Though it does seem to be fairing rather well holding my spirit, and that's a rather draining task in itself."

"What the fuck do you mean by an army!" this time it was Tori. Azara shrugged.

"I mean what I say. I need you for my army. You see, long before the manipulative experiments of your Edison Group, ancient supernaturals thought it was fun to mix the spirits of Demons and supernaturals known as Nevaiyis **(A/N: Nev-eye-iss)**, who were beings who could manipulate the elements, the body, and the mind so extensively that it even reached a molecular level. They used satanic rituals with blood sacrifices to fuse the spirits together, effectively killing the two souls in the process to create one new one. Depending on what type demon was fused, they created many a species of new supernaturals through the deaths of many Nevaiyis, to the point of near extinction. When more powerful supernaturals discovered their operations, all were executed, and those who'd they created were hunted and persecuted. That is the story of mine and my sister's birth. We were some of the first creations they made, seeing as for names they went through the alphabet. Regardless of the genders of those sacrificed to their endeavors, every subject they made became female, for reasons unknown to us even now. But we became a race of beings who were basically immortal demons without the need to sacrifice souls to live, seeing as we have one already."

"After pretending to be gods to further hide ourselves from those who would kill us, we found the key to survival. Dimension jumping. There is only a specific few our powers allow us to go to, the others either being unsustainable for our souls or cannot be opened without the power of certain sacrifices, magical beings, or items. More recently, certain supernaturals have blundered upon our existence, and are set on controlling or killing us" She paused, to let this all soak in. We all had incredulous looks of stupidity. Nevaiyis? Dimension jumping? It all sounded a little far-fetched. I frowned.

"Still, you haven't made any connection to the reasons for stalking us." She frowned in frustration and snapped at me like a two year old, to which I started.

"I'm getting there! Just hold your horses! Geesh, you people are impatient! Anyway, Aerona and I are sisters because we were made in the same experiment with the same type of demon, though opposites in power. I am light and she is dark, though times of the day do not affect our powers. Our sisters knew us as the twins. We traveled together as a family with a couple our other sisters, doing what we pleased disguised as humans or animals, depending on what form our demon spirit takes, occasionally jumping dimensions when we saw fit. But very recently, about 50 years ago, we were attacked by scientists who had discovered what we were, and they captured all but myself and one of my other sisters, Alumina. We ambushed the scientists before they could kill all of our sisters in their experiments, but we were only able to save Aerona. Alumina sacrificed herself to help the two of us escape." Her face looked pained, almost as if it physically hurt her to recall the events.

"After escaping, I noticed changes in Aerona. She was angry or depressed all the time, but I put that off as grief for our sisters, as I was sorrowful myself. But though I moved on, she sank deeper into her fury. She vowed revenge for the murders of our family, and started killing your kind for pleasure, just to hear them scream and make them bleed. I do not know what they subjected her to in that lab, but I assumed it was excruciating enough to drive her to insanity. Once she found the means, she searched for and murdered all the families of the scientists in that lab, before finding the ones responsible themselves and giving them a slow, painful death. I regret my part in any of those killings, save those scientist themselves, but all the others I did not agree with, though I kept my mouth shut, hoping that once she killed all of the scientists, it would be enough to satiate her vengeance. But I was wrong. She became bent on extinguishing your entire race, for our family and for our creation itself, for making us into accursed beings that would not be accepted, only persecuted. Somehow, she came across the information that those certain dimensions we could not jump to, the ones that needed certain keys, had the power inside them to control and or extinguish entire dimensions, and that's why they were sealed. She devoted the rest of her life to finding the keys to that power. Once she began her search, I voiced my opinions and concerns on what she was doing, thinking that she was going too far, and she immediately turned on me, calling me scum, saying I was a disgrace to dishonor the memories of our sisters, and it was either help her or die a traitor. I tried to run, but she restrained me and imprisoned me in our home, taking out her anger on me, but never actually killing me. I eventually escaped, while she was off on one of her blood lust excursions, and began devising ways to stop her. I spied on her, learning that she was amassing followers to her cause, promising blood-thirsty beings like herself power in her new world when she reached the sealed dimensions. So now, I have begun to recruit those to my own army, so I could stand a chance in stopping her in her quest for power and blood. If she gains entrance to the sealed dimensions, there is no hope for your race. But if you help me, we might be able to stop her." She stopped talking, her amber eyes pleading, looking around at all of us. We were all stunned into speechlessness. After waiting a full 10 minutes, Azara continued.

"I don not know what my sister wants from you, but I assume it has something to do with this young girl whose body I'm borrowing. If she needs you for more than power, than she will not stop hunting you until she gets what she wants. You could continue to run, but she is immortal to a point, and will not tire of chasing and will not get older. She will hunt you into the ground. Please, help me stop my sister." On that last sentence her voiced cracked, and the pain in her eyes was so deep I almost started crying. But suddenly, she put her hands on her head and lowered it into her lap. The corpses went as if to help her, but she held up her hand and they stopped. A weird red lightning passed over the outside of her skin, then she turned back to look up at us, strain and exhaustion clear on her face.

"I'm sorry, but it seems I must sever my connection or be forced to delve into this human's life force for energy, which I'm sure would not be pleasurable or a good persuasive point. Please consider my offer, I will come personally in one week's time to receive an answer. If my sister comes to force you to her side, immediately flee, for if you do not come willingly she will forcibly chain you into her service, and no one ever comes out unscathed. But for now I must leave you. Farewell, supernaturals." and she smiled one last sorrowful smile that lit up Chloe's face with a six-year-old/wise, experienced grandmother look, before all the color drained from her face and Chloe collapsed. All the corpses fell to the ground at the same moment, and the binding spell was released. Venn caught me before I fell face first onto the ground, and Derek sprinted over to Chloe and nudged her with his nose. We were all surprised into silence except Kit, who ordered us around, having us re-bury all the corpses and wake up the others who'd passed out. When everyone was conscious, we had my mom transport Chloe (and Derek, who wouldn't go more than two steps from her) back to the house, and we started the trek back.

Venn immediately started questioning me.

"You okay?" I rolled my eyes, but nodded, then held up my hand in a salute.

"Scout's honor." He chuckled and lightly slapped my shoulder.

"You can't have a scout's honor if weren't ever a scout to begin with." I smiled and hit him back.

"Fine, anime geek's honor," He chuckled at me and rolled _his_ eyes. I smiled.

"Its not like I actually did much besides scream at you." His face turned impassive, and I nudged him.

"When we get back to the house we're going to explain everything." I looked over to see Kit trying to calm down Brent and Beth. Kari and Nate looked like just standing still was too overwhelming, so I sent Venn over to help Derek explain what was going on with their senses.

When we arrived back at the house and Derek had changed back, Kit called a meeting. He had us all sit in a circle-ish shape, unconscious Chloe on the couch, Tori at her feet, Derek leaning against the wall behind her head, me in the leather recliner, Venn on my right armrest, my parents, Lauren, Nate, Kari, and Beth at the kitchen table, Brent in the armchair near the TV, and Kit stood at the end of the room in front of the TV. Brent opened his fat mouth to speak, but Derek cut him off.

"Was that proof enough for you, jackass?" Brent glared, and Kit frowned.

"Derek, that's not how we start a conversation," Kit said, and Derek rolled his eyes and went back to scowling at the world. Kit turned to Brent. "Brent, do you believe us now when we tell you we're supernaturals?" Brent turned away, unresponsive. Kit shrugged and restarted.

"Anyway, now that everyone's here and mostly conscious, we can start the story from the beginning. You see, a month or so ago, Chloe, Tori, Derek, Simon, Lauren and myself, with some help from other supernaturals, succeeded in bringing down the Edison Group, a group of supernaturals who tried experimenting on other supernaturals, and killing off their "failed" subjects. During the midst of this, we contacted all supernaturals in the area that Lauren and I knew of and warned them about the group, in case they were attacked or had considered putting someone in their care. To those who didn't want to help us we simply said we'd call them if anything came their way, which is when we contacted your family." He gestured to the four of us.

"But then we won, and we thought it was safe to go back to our lives. Chloe went back to her father, who thought she had schizophrenia and had run away from a group home for troubled teens because he didn't know about her powers, but really she had been running from the Edison Group who were trying to experiment on her. So she told him that she didn't remember anything about living on the streets, that Lauren had found her wandering in a city in upstate New York with amnesia, and she went back to a normal life. The rest of us bought a house in Maine. While we were up there, we were attacked by a woman, now known to us as Aerona, and two werewolves called Liam and Ramon." I saw Chloe and Derek visibly flinch at the names. "We managed to escape, and fearing Chloe's safety, we came to find her. Unfortunately, Aerona and the werewolves followed us, so as we went to get Chloe from her school dance with Lauren, we were attacked again by the three. Chloe's friends here, Brent, Nate, Kari, and Beth, were caught up in the events, and Kari and Nate were both bitten by Liam and Ramon. Then we came here, and we all know the rest." We went on to discussing Azara's proposal, and I sort of tuned out most of it. _Beings who could manipulate the elements, the body, and the mind so extensively that it even reached a molecular level...does that mean...but she said near extinction...but it seems so likely, how could I not be...but I'm not! I'm not a Demon!_

Venn nudged me, and I fell of the chair with a _thunk_. I snapped back up at him

"What the HELL was that for?" he smirked at me from his position on the armrest, his face glowing in stifled laughter.

"You had a total space cadet moment. I just thought it was time to land the spaceship. Besides, Kit's talking to you." What? I turned to Kit. The whole room was staring at me. If I was in an anime or manga, I would've sweat dropped, my face red.

"Er...what did you say?" Kit smiled.

"I just asked what type of supernatural you were." I think my throat closed.

"Oh, um...er...well, I...I don't really know. But I have a theory." He made the continue gesture with his hands. I sighed, looking down, and I started fingering the hem of my shirt.

"Well, um, my powers can manipulate the cells and molecular structures of any object or organism through touch, though organisms can cause so much spiritual and physical drain that my spirit separates from my body for a short period of time." Simon piped up.

"So that's what you did with Kari and Nate. I wondered what it was, it looked painful. Did it take a lot of power?" Tori smirked at him.

"Something you don't have, and never will."

"Shut up, Tori," came from surprisingly, Chloe. Beth and Kari jumped on her.

"Chloe! Your okay! That was so scary! Are you alright?" they chanted. Simon knelt down beside her and rubbed her hand, Derek stared intently at the back of her head, Tori looking delighted despite the jab, and the adults, especially Lauren, immediately moving closer.

Nate hung back, apparently interested but unsure in his dejection. Brent seemed to be looking out the window, ignoring everyone, but I could see him looking over out of the corner of his eye. Venn and I stayed on the leather recliner, but I was glad for the change of subject. And Chloe's health, of course.

Kit looked concerned. "How much do you remember?" Chloe frowned in thought.

"I...I remember the corpses, and...and being possessed, but... after that its all black." Kit frowned, and then started filling her in, with the help of the others. I went back to pondering, but then Venn nudged me again, but more gently this time. He had a questioning look. I shook my head.

"Its nothing." He frowned at me. I sighed, wiping my hand down my face.

"I'll tell you later, okay?" He still frowned, but nodded. We turned back over to the Chloe mob, and she was staring wide-eyed at Kit. When it became obvious she wasn't going to say anything until her brain started functioning again, Kit turned back to the rest of us.

"Okay, so its been a really...strange day and we're all tired and freaked out, but dinner will be soon, so go do whatever until it's time to eat. We'll call you when it's done." he made the shooing motion, and we took the hint. All the adults gathered in the kitchen while the rest of us went our separate ways. Chloe looked like she wanted to say something, but I mouthed later to her, and she nodded and smiled. I headed towards the loft, with Venn trailing behind me. I sat down on the love seat, and I gestured for him to sit down, but he didn't. His eyes looked determined, in a way the said '_you better tell the truth or you are so screwed'_.

"What's wrong?" his eyes stared unwaveringly at me, but I dropped my gaze to the floor. My hands just started fiddling with each other out of nervousness. I was never good at expressing my feelings, I always said something stupid that meant the total opposite of what I wanted.

"Well, you know how we don't really know what I am? My powers, I mean?" He nodded, not seeing where this was going.

"Weell(1)... and you know how today Azara was talking about those Nevaiyis people right? Well..., I think that's what I am. But that wouldn't make sense, because no one in our family has been one, we know that from mom explaining our family tree and their powers last year. So I'm sort of scared. What if that creepy lady, Aerona, finds out what I am and tries to kidnap me? Or even worse, possesses me and uses my body to force you guys to work for her?" I was starting to get hysterical. "What if she has me kill people? I can't kill people! I not that kind of person! And Chloe! What if she does that to her too? I mean, I've only known her like 2 days, but I don't want her to die!"

Suddenly, I felt strong arms around me. I put my arms around Venn's waist and I let him comfort me.

"Shh. That's not going to happen. You'll be fine, we'll all be fine. I'll make sure of it." I was ashamed of myself. Collapsing like this **(A/N: And this early in the story too! I though I made you stronger than that! :/** **)**, before anything happened, at the sheer _possibility_ of loss. I was so weak. Venn dropped me, his face angry. I landed on the floor in surprise.

"You are not weak! You just need to toughen up! I won't allow you to think like that, you're better than that! Get a hold of yourself!" I was shocked. Then I remembered he could read minds. I mentally slapped myself for thinking like a pessimistic loser in his presence. I looked up to see Venn glaring down at me. Then he sighed, running his hand through his hair, golden eyes no longer smoldering with disgust. He offered me my hand and helped me up. He pulled me into a hug again.

"Sorry. It's just, hearing you talk like that makes me mad. You way to great of a person to think you'd let some ancient demon bat-shit crazy lady take over your body. You'd probably let her bite your ass first." I laughed.

"Since when did you become so caring? I though you're main purpose was to be a pain in my ass? Hey, jack ass Venn! Where'd you go?" He lightly slapped my shoulder, laughing.

"Fine, next time your crying, I'll just laugh at you and throw water over your head! How does that sound." I stopped laughing immediately, and turned to look at him.

"Why would you do that? That's so mean! What kind of person are you!" I started crying. His face paled.

"No! I didn't mean it like that! I was only kidding! Don't—!" I burst out laughing.

"Look...look at your...look at your face!" I said between laughing and choking on my joy. He sunk into a pout. I continued laughing.

"I can't believe you fell for that, it was so fake! You're so gullible!"

"Shut up."

"I'm sorry, if you want to make a comment you'll have to make an appointment, but I'm not free til' next month, I'll be too busy laughing at your stupidity!" He grunted and turned away. I let my laughter die down, and hugged him around the waist again.

**Julie and Venn at the same time POV**

I sighed. _If only we weren't brother and sister. Maybe then..._

**Chloe's POV**

As I sat out on the porch, watching the sunset, I could hear Julie and Venn laughing with each other up in the loft. Sigh. My brain was still fuzzy from being possessed, which was a strange concept to come to terms with in itself. I wished I had someone to talk to. I mean, Julie gets Venn, and what do I get? The Jerk, Dr. Dejected, Simon the sorcerer prep, and Dr. Antisocial. There was also Beth, Kari, and Tori, but I don't think they had the frame of mind to understand what I was going through, and neither would the sorcerer prep or Dr. Dejected. Maybe in another life, Brent the Jerk might've been able to listen, but I probably would end up pushing him off the roof before I would ever be able to talk about my feelings with him. Maybe Derek, but since our fight, and Julie's romance talk our first night there, I didn't really know what to think of him at the moment. He probably wouldn't have listened anyway. But then again, what he said on the roof...Nah, I was probably just hallucinating. Derek would never say something like that, it would be totally out of character. Damn, I really wish I had someone my age to talk to right about now.

"Chloe." I practically wet my pants. Maybe I'd spoken to soon about the whole someone to talk to thing. I turned, and there was Derek, in all his 'Full-Werewolf-At-Sixteen' glory. He sat down beside me, while I stared like a goldfish. After a minute of silence and gawking, I got up the courage to talk.

"You came out here to say something?" I prompted. He turned to me, emerald eyes glinting in the red glow of the sunset.

"You seem stressed." I frowned. No shit Sherlock. Where'd you get that idea. He must've seen my expression, because his impassive face immediately turned into a scowl.

"Yeah, that's obvious. Stupid statement. I meant, are you okay?" I pondered this.

"More or less, as good as I can be after being possessed, I guess." He nodded, and we sat in silence for another minute. Then he made as to get up. I put a hand on his arm.

"Wait!" He stared at me. I flushed.

"What?" CRAP. Crap crap crap crap crap crap crap! I don't know why, but for some reason I wanted him to stay. But I didn't actually have a reason. So I let go, looking down.

"Er...never mind. Just go." He paused, then sat back down. We waited in silence a moment, then I steeled up my courage. Why was it so hard to talk to him?

"Derek?" He looked in my direction, face impassive.

"How are we going to get out of this?" He sat still for a moment, then shrugged.

"I don't know." I sighed. That's all anyone seemed to know, lately.

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**Sorry for taking so long, PLEASE DON'T SMITE ME! :0 I've been really busy lately will midterms and projects and crap, and my parents have been taking away my laptop a lot! plus, my great aunt died, so things haven't been getting me in the writing mood. But I finished another chapter, so here it is! Enjoy! AND REVIEW! XD Love ya! **


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